Goodnight
by Hikari.AA
Summary: Luna Lovegood is also known as Loony Lovegood, probably because she always looks like she is walking inside a dream. But, hasn't it ever crossed your mind that you could be actually dreaming right now, and that you would then wake up when you go to sleep? You have no way to tell what is a dream and what is real... If there's such a thing, that's it. [Edward/Luna pairing]
1. The Beginning of a Dream

_Disclaimer:_ _I will only say it once; if I owned Fullmetal Alchemist or Harry Potter, I wouldn't be writing a fanfiction in a first place. I would have tons of money and I wouldn't worry over writing a stupid disclaimer like this. I'm over._

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 **CHAPTER ONE**

 **The Beginning of a Dream**

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Edward looked out the window, sighing tiredly. His golden eyes looked far away in the distance, at the trees speeding up past them. "I don't get it," he finally spoke.

The suit of armor next to him that he liked to call brother looked at him. "What do you mean?" he asked while handing the blonde a piece of bread from his bag.

"I don't understand that Lieutenant Colonel Mustang. Forcing us to get this train instead of the other one..." after taking a bite of his food, he focused again in the window. "I wonder what kind of person he is."

Ed blinked twice, when his younger brother suddenly waved his hand. He noticed then that it was directed to something behind him. He turned his head to see, just in time to see a little girl quickly hiding herself in her seat.

Alphonse lowered his head. "Brother," he muttered. "Am I scary?"

"That's not-" the elder brother wanted to say.

"Hey, there's a weird person!"

"Marin, no. Be quiet."

At every word the kid spoke, Al looked gloomier. Edward was feeling a little irritated at it, and thought about telling the child something when they heard steps coming their way and stopping right next to their seats.

"Excuse me," a soft, dreamy voice said. "Could I sit here?"

They looked up almost instantly. Messy, dirty blonde hair almost covered the girl standing in front of them, who looked close to their age. Her silvery eyes were strange, though; it seemed like they were staring at them, but at the same time they weren't.

Edward looked at her... and looked. An eyebrow raised questionably.

"There are plenty of empty seats, you know."

"Brother," Alphonse whispered to him. "That was rude."

Not that he cared anyway. The girl didn't seem to mind, either.

"Yes, but as you say, these are _empty_ seats," she smiled at them. "I don't like sitting alone," without previous advice, she sat next to the younger brother. "Thank you."

Ed was about to protest, but Al looked at him and slowly shook his head. He huffed, crossing his arms and looking out the window. The girl didn't erase the sweet smile from her face, which seemed to annoy him even more.

"I apologize for my brother, miss," the armor directed to her, politely. "I'm Alphonse Elric, and he is Edward. Nice to meet-"

"I see you are polite indeed, I like it but it's not necessary," she cut him off. "You know, I always wondered why people always say that it's nice to meet someone, if they honestly don't know if they are good or bad people. I mean, they just meet them, how can they tell?"

If Alphonse had eyelids, he surely would have blinked. He had thought that the young woman in front of him was weird when he saw her, but now that she talked he confirmed it. Honestly, he couldn't tell if that was a good or bad thing.

"I'm Luna Lovegood," she introduced herself, even if anyone asked.

"Oh," even if he was in a lost of what words to say, he forced himself to speak, to get rid of possibility of an uncomfortable silence. "That's a nice name."

"I know," she said. "So, what brings you two to Central?"

Before Al could speak, Edward did so. "Long story," he mumbled.

"Well, actually mine is kinda long as well. You see..." again, none of them asked, but she spoke nonetheless. "I was about to take a train from Rush Valley, where a friend of mine lived, to my home in central when accidentally took the wrong one and ended up in East City. I suspect the nargles changed my ticket with another one's."

"What's a nurgle?" Alphonse asked.

"It's nargle, be careful. They don't like their name being mispronounced," she told them, seriously. "They are mischievous creatures. They have fun by stealing possessions, sometimes exchanging them between people."

The Elric brothers glanced at each other, without saying a word.

"As I was saying, I had to take this one to return home instead. Then, I was surprised to see a living suit of armor in a place filled with muggles like this accompanied with a boy with automail limbs, so I asked myself; how can they be so careless? Curiosity took over me and-"

That was when Luna noticed them both staring directly at her, looking both surprised, confused and nervous.

"How do you know I'm not a human wearing an armor?" Alphonse asked.

She raised an eyebrow, still smiling. "Am I supposed not to?"

"Wait a minute, before that..." Ed narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "What the hell is a muggle?"

Her smile faded, as she realized what she had just said. " _They are muggles?"_ she wondered. " _Then, how is that this Alphonse...?"_

The brothers after a couple of seconds let go, dismissing everything as just madness of the girl.

Edward then sighed. " _So, this girl sat with us because of Alphonse's looks? We are not that..."_ he looked around, noticing that every passenger was staring at them warily, " _... strange..."_

He turned his head to Al for a second before lowering his gaze, in shame. The memories of what they had gone through a month ago filled his mind. In his head, flashed the blood from his now-gone leg, his brother disappearing, when he draw the rune of blood in the armor. And the thing they created, which was supposed to be their late mother. Again and again.

Alphonse took no time to notice what was going through his head. Then, he worried a little when he noticed Edward's hand going straight to his head, closing his eyes in pain for a moment.

"Brother?" he asked, softly.

"By the way... I..." he looked straight ahead, looking somewhat lost. Like he had forgotten what he was about to say. He let out a long sight. "Sorry. My head's kinda fuzzy..."

"Are you alright?" the metal boy asked in concern.

"I knew it," in confusion, both looked at Luna. "This place is filled with wrackspurts."

"With _what?_ " Ed's half-lidded eyes narrowed at her.

"Wrackspurts, I thought I heard one around. They are invisible and float through your heads, making your brain all fuzzy," she explained. "They are attracted by negative thoughts..."

She stopped her speech for a second, smiling up ahead. The boys looked at the direction she was looking at, noticing the kid from before grinning while waving her hand at Al. They both smiled widely as well.

"Hey, Al, look. She likes you," Ed turned to the child. "Right?"

"Yeah!" she nodded, happily. Her wide eyes then fell on Edward's automail, who blinked twice before grinning, when he realized what was she looking at.

"Isn't it cool?" in response, she nodded again.

"Come on, Marin. Don't bother them," the mother told her daughter.

The woman then turned to the others, who smiled politely at her. Even when the women sat again, Luna kept the smile on her face.

"So, naturally, the only way to dispel them is by positive thinking," she whispered, finishing her explanation.

Only then, Edward realized he was feeling good again. That girl, maybe, wasn't as insane as he initially thought she was. He dismissed any thought at the moment as he lied down in his seat and told his brother and the strange blonde that he was going to take a nap.

But his nap was shortly interrupted when a man ran to them and stopped in his tracks. "Yes! There's one!" the man exclaimed. "He's _really_ small!"

As Alphonse predicted, in a split of second his brother was up. Angrily waving his fists around in a hysterical tantrum. "Who did you call a shorty that can only be seen through a magnifier?!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.

Luna raised an eyebrow, turning to the armored guy. "Who did?" she asked.

"Nobody," he sighed. "Brother is overreacting... as always."

The girl giggled a little, before glancing at the man, finding him somewhat familiar. She tried to remember him, but nope. Nothing came into her mind.

The man retreated a little at the Elric's outburst, when he seemed to notice something. In a flash, he had taken his gun off and was pointing at a passenger, who also was pointing at him with one of his. The man then tensed, when he realized that the one behind him had the same weapon, ready to blow his head off. Just when he was about to put the gun down, he was knocked unconscious from behind.

In the end, the only trained soldier was tied up, leaving all the other people on their own.

There was a collective gasp, as the thugs told everyone to raise their hands. Having no more option, everyone complied.

Wait, no everyone. Guess who wasn't doing it? If you said Luna, you were right, of course. She just stood there, staring at them with a dreamy expression, the one she always had on.

"Hey, missy," one of them said. "Weren't you listening to us?"

"Yes, I was," vaguely, she answered.

"This train is hijacked by us, right now!"

"I know that already, thank you."

Edward blinked twice, turning to his brother. "What is she supposed to be doing?" he whispered to him.

"I have no idea," that was his honest answer.

Meanwhile, the man seemed to get a little annoyed, so he walked a little closer to her, placing his gun in her forehead. Everyone, but her, flinched.

"Why aren't you doing as I say?" he asked.

"Because I don't see why," Luna answered, unfazed even if she was in risk of having her head blown out. "You may kill me even if I do as you say, so what's the deal?"

The thug couldn't get it, how was she so unfazed to death? She obviously could die, she was human after all. There was something on it that made him uneasy.

Then he realized that couldn't be the exactly thing that he didn't like. The shine of her eyes, one of motivation, reminded her of something... of someone. Maybe from when he was in the military, before rebelling...

Stop it right there. Oh, that was it.

"Oh, now I got it," he spoke after a while. "You're that bastard's daughter."

"His niece, actually," she corrected. "Old friend of his, I can see," then, a smile drew in Luna's features. "Okay, then. I will hold up my hands for you."

In a swift motion, she raised her hands, and her left foot. She kicked him in his hand, making him drop the weapon. He wanted to retrieve it, but she hit the man's stomach, leaving him in the floor.

She innocently gazed at his other two partners.

"You-!" one of them said, before he abruptly stopped.

Ed's knee in the face shut him off, as Al's punch knocked his friend out of cold. The brothers grinned at the same time - or so Luna supposed about Alphonse. Little after that, the people in the train started whispering about it, with worried faces.

"Hey, what are you two going to do now?" one of the passengers asked, in worry. "What if the other members come to get revenge?"

"If you hadn't resisted, maybe we could've gotten to Central City, safely..."

"Yes..."

"That's right..."

Luna lowered her head a little bit, troubled over the idea of spreading panic on people she didn't know. Among them people with family. She even frightened little kids!

Alphonse and Edward seemed to be in a similar situation, looking at each other once again. Luna opted to not think about it anymore, and walked over the fallen soldier. Helping him was a little more useful, she through.

"Thank you," he said to her, once she helped him to sit.

"Uh, it's nothing really," she replied, after a few tries of undoing the knots, in vain obviously. That's when she noticed something, and looked at him straight at the face. "Wait a second, could you be Mr. Farman?"

"Yes," he looked at her, still confused.

"You work with my uncle," she grinned from ear to ear.

His eyes fell on her, and stared for a long time before opening. He smiled politely. "Luna," he recognized her. "You've grown."

"Have I? Thank god," she sighed. "I was worried that I had been seen by a pink eyed owl without noticing..."

Farman had no idea of what she was talking about, and choose to keep that to himself. Probably, that was the wisest option that he could have taken.

They both heard a slam and a shot, almost in the same second. Their heads snapped towards the sound, just to see Al's feet right in a thug's back, keeping him down, and Ed holding a gun, probably stolen from the same man.

Same blonde turned around to talk to the little girl from before, smiling at her and bending over.

"Sorry," he told her. "We'll do something about it."

With still watered eyes, the girl clutched even more in her mother and gave him a slight nod.

"Luna," Farman turned to the teen behind him. "We should hurry."

"Right, right," she tried to untie him once more, but it was useless. Discretely, she pointed her hand at the ropes - or the stick of wood under her sleeve, more likely. " _Libero."_

"Huh? Did you say something."

"Oh, nothing. You know, speaking nonsense to oneself keeps mischief fairies away. I'm pretty sure I saw one around," even Luna believed that mischief fairies didn't exist, but it kept Farman silent and confused. That was good enough, "Oh, look. I did it."

The ropes fell over at the same time that the Elric brothers walked closer to them. Al stretched a hand to him, and he thankfully took it.

"I'm ashamed. I'm the one supposed to do something about this," he sighed. "Who are you two?"

"Oh. We are just plain alchemists," Edward replied.

Luna hummed to herself. That explained a little about how a living armor was walking around a place that muggle-infested. But she still couldn't get _what_ made Alphonse to have to live like that. Let me rephrase that, Luna deep inside knew what was going on. The other thing was that she didn't want to believe it.

"A military personnel?" Ed's voice brought her back to reality. He was still talking to Farman. "You don't look like one."

"Wait," Luna suddenly said. "I wanted to ask you before; what's the military doing here?"

Whispering, he told them all the truth behind the mission. About General Hakuro, the State Alchemist that had rebelled against the military, who is the mastermind behind all of this... Everything.

The elder alchemist didn't like they way of getting civilians involved, letting everyone know by knitting his eyebrows together. "Al, I'll go from above," he told his brother, before nodding him to the soldier. "You go from the bottom with this person."

"What...?" at first, the metal boy wavered, but then nodded. "Okay."

"I'm going with you," Luna decided, looking straight at Al.

"..." none of them said anything, just looked.

"What? If I went from above, I would fall. I preffer going from the bottom."

"..."

* * *

Luna was wise. Wise indeed... When the door opened, she decided to stand right behind Al for protection. She looked as the man with the machine gun opened his eyes widely.

"Ah, you shouldn't fire-!" the armor tried to warn.

He didn't listen, he just began to shoot until he hit his own leg. Alphonse shook his head, he was trying to tell him that the bullets were going to ricochet.

"What's wrong?!" another one appeared and pointed his own gun at the boy, in fright.

"Ah, you shouldn't fire-!"

"..." more shoots were heard. "Aaargh!"

"Ugh," Alphonse groaned in frustration.

"That's what they call a deja-vu, I think," Luna commented, while Alphonse held his head down, palm in his face. She then realized something. "You keep going, I'll help the passengers."

Alphonse nodded, and Luna ran towards the first door. She closed it behind her back, as the first men pointed the gun at her. The Lovegood girl grinned, as she took her wand out of her sleeve.

"What's that?" he asked, in confusion.

"A wand," she answered as if it was the most common thing in the world. "It's my big secret, you know. Do you have any idea of why I'm telling you this?"

He let out a laugh, thinking that she was just nuts. "Because you will kill me?"

"Of course not, silly," she laughed his comment off. "I was covering my magic before because I'm not sure if the False Memory Charm affects a living armor... But with plain muggles will do."

His eyebrows frowned.

" _Bombarda,"_ she whispered.

Luna kept advancing through the rooms, kicking the men out the compartiments, leaving them unconscious in the hallway. After doing that, she would always remember to place a false memory in the muggle's head; probably making them think that she just performed alchemy or something of the same kind.

That was when Edward's voice suddenly echoed in all the train.

" _Can you hear me, everyone from the criminal group?"_

"What the-?" the man in front of her asked, in the middle of their 'fight'.

" _How you dare to threaten everyone! Release the hostages!"_

There was a brief pause. Luna supposed that Edward was having a word with someone, and they just couldn't heard it. Little after, he began to talk again.

" _Oh? Looks like you are full of determination! Then... Hostages! Please take cover!"_

The girl quickly looked at the man in front of him. "Well, you all the last one, aren't you?" she told him. She realized vaguely that she had let the door open. "Want to get out nicely?"

"Huh?!"

"Alright," she raised her wand. " _Flipendo!"_ the man fell back to the corridor. " _Obliviate!"_ Then she closed the door and remembered: "Blimey, I didn't change the memories... Oh, well."

Right after changing the hostage's memories, she heard something. Like water rushing out around the whole train.

Luna was grateful she stayed inside...

* * *

As soon as the train came to a stop, the young witch walked out the train - after, of course, almost slipping twice in the wet floor as the dumb, young witch she was. Once outside, she found all the criminals tied up, defeated. Half of them, maybe a little less, were taken down by her. It made her feel a little more proud of herself.

There also were the Elric brothers and the rest of the military, looking in shock at something. That was when she noticed that the infamous Lieutenant Colonel Mustang was also there, in front of a combusted somebody. She guessed that he was the responsible of it.

"Lieutenant Colonel! You put us on this train knowing about this, didn't you?!" Ed shouted, angrily.

"We didn't know everything," he admitted. "By the way, I have good news. The General has heard of your accomplishment. And he will be giving the two of you special permission to take the State Alchemist test."

Edward then went in shock after realizing that in reality, children couldn't take the exam in any way. Luna giggled _. "Typical Mustang."_

After telling him that it was his choose to take or not the exam - and receiving a no-so-gentle answer from the kid - the Flame Alchemist walked away. Luna was about to do the same thing, when she almost lost her balance.

"Luna~" a male voice said, as strong arms hugged her tightly.

Edward and Alphonse broke they serious facade, as they saw it. The girl smiled slightly, hugging the man back. When they broke, she spoke.

"Were you on the same train than me, Uncle Maes?"

"Funny long story. I'll tell it when we reach home."

The brothers just blinked at the revelation. "Uncle?" they said in unison.

"Yes," Hughes smiled to the boys. "Well, it was nice to met you guys. I guess we'll see you later."

"Same thing," Luna smiled. "Until then."

* * *

"Luna... Luna..."

The eleven year old girl opened her tired eyes and looked around the place. She realized then that she had fallen asleep on her father's lap, while they were travelling. Grinning widely, she stretched up and positioned herself in a sitting position.

"What did you wake me for, Daddy?" she asked him.

"We are almost there," he stood up. "Let's go, honey."

Luna nodded her head, looking out the window before standing up, confirming that her dad was right. Once they got out of it, her eyes widened in delight at the amount of people and shops there in Diagon Alley.

"You will make a excellent witch, Luna," proudly, his father bend down and kissed the top of her head.

Not that she wanted her parent to know, but she was already a fine witch. The thought of it made her slightly less excited about getting to Hogwarts. Still, she smiled.

"I won't let you down."

Deep down, however, she couldn't wait to go to bed once again.

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 **AUTHOR'S NOTE**

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It has been a while since I posted a fic - not that I posted that much anyway.

This is something that once crossed my mind once, and wrote it down. I know it can be confusing, but I will expand on it later in this story. This story will based in the 2003 storyline at first, but then I'll shift to the 2009. That was because I couldn't chose only one version of this powerful anime.

Romance will take a little to develop, since I strongly believe that relationships of this kind aren't bonded in a matter of a couple of days.

Luna is a hard character for me to keep. I'll still do my best. The 'libero' spell, the pink eyed owl and the mischief fairies were things I made up, trying to fit Luna in the fic. Pay no mind, please.

I don't want to bore you anymore. I just want thank you for reading this, I will update as soon as I can. Sorry if my English isn't good enough, Spanish is my first language. I'll try harder to improve that.

See you later!


	2. Double Birthday

_Disclaimer: I own nothing._

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 **CHAPTER TWO**

 **Double Birthday**

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As every year in Hogwarts, Hagrid was leading the rookies across the lake to the castle. Everything was going okay, like always. The kids would get excited over the sight of the building, delighted over the beautifulness of the lake, or even nervous about the future low marks that the school could bring. This year, they could be also chatting about the car flying over the train...

But then it was that girl, who was in the same boat that the giant because of the lack of place for her; this generation of wizards and witches was too large in comparison to the other ones, after all. Back to the topic, Hagrid wasn't sure how he felt about her.

The kid wasn't looking anywhere, just looking straight ahead with a blank expression. He was about to ask her if she was alright, when she suddenly snapped her head to water. Hagrid at first though she was just seasick, and that she was about to throw up when she bend her body, her face facing the water. When he looked closer, he noticed that she was just looking at something with wide eyes.

"Are yeh alrigh'?" he asked, with his characteristic accent.

"Ah, yes," she grinned, sitting back normally. "Sorry, I thought I have just seen a suicidal angelfish," before Hagrid could reply, she continued. "Suicidal angelfishes are almost extinct, you know. I think it's because they tend to explode when are nervous... I feel bad for them."

Hagrid then realized that might have been the first time he ever felt that a first year student could creep him out that much.

The other students kept talking happily, not caring about what was happening in Hagrid's boat. In one of them, the girls on it stopped talking when the red-headed one looked straight at the water.

By some reason, bubbles started to come out to the surface.

"What's wrong, Ginny?" one of her friends asked.

"Uh, nothing," she denied, before going back to the talk.

But, deep inside herself, she swore she saw thin lines of red, flowing around the river; that certainly weren't there before.

They quickly arrived at the castle, and they climbed down the boats. Everything up there went fast for the blonde girl. They walked inside the building and gathered together in front of the tables of older students, who had already been sorted by houses. Dumbledore then gave them a warm welcome...

The girl smiled a little bit. He really liked the man, and she was already planning a visit to his office to say 'hi'.

The speech and the song where things she arbitrary decided that her mind would speak. Her eyes wandered around, examining the place, until she heard her name: "Lovegood, Luna."

Calmly, the girl nodded as the students let her pass through. She then sat in the large stool and fell the hat falling in her head, blocking her view.

" _So, what do we have here?"_ she heard the voice echoing in her mind. " _A Lovegood, alright... That's interesting."_

" _What does being a Lovegood have of interesting?"_ Luna asked.

" _It's in your blood, dear,"_ he continued. " _Let's see... a little dreamy, maybe more than necessary, doesn't it?"_

She flinched. How did he know?

" _I know everything, even your dreams."_

" _It's not a dream,"_ she argued, puffing her cheeks childishly.

" _Very well. Quite an intelligent girl even if you don't look like it,"_ he continued. " _Oh! Interesting indeed."_

" _What?"_

" _These dreams makes you feel like you are living twice. It's almost like they make you be twice older than the rest,_ " he told her. " _You stand out among others, but that at the same time makes other people not able to understand you."_

Luna looked down about the last thing.

" _But that's nothing to worry about. Wisdom is power after all... It's decided, it unmistakably has to be..."_ he then shouted at the rest. "RAVENCLAW!"

As it had been done with everyone already, the house of the chosen student clapped and cheered. McGonagall took the hat from her and Luna jumped down, walking straight to the table.

You could say, though, that it wasn't sort of a pleasant dinner. Sure, the food was simply delicious, but somehow she felt like she didn't fit there. She was sure, though, that the others thought that she didn't fit either, accusing her as plain weird.

The only person - not a person, actually - in the room who didn't ignore her was the ghost of Ravenclaw House, the Grey Lady as they exchanged smiles of acknowledgement when she passed by.

When the feast was over the Ravenclaw prefect, Penelope Clearwater, guided them to the common room. They walked, passing by the 'living' stairs, until they stood in front of a door. The prefect placed her hand on the eagle knocker and softly hit the door twice.

"Voiceless it cries, wingless it flutters," the raven started to say, "toothless bites, mouthless mutters. Who is it?"

"The wind," the prefect replied almost instantly.

"Correct. Go ahead."

The door flew opened, and most of the students gasped. Penelope turned around and told the first years that they had to answer a riddle every time they wanted to enter the common room. If they got it wrong, however, they would have to wait for somebody else to answer correctly.

Luna found the common room pretty comfortable. It was a wide, circular place, arched windows hung with blue and bronze silks. Through them, you could enjoy a beautiful view of a lake. There were also tables, chairs, bookcases, a statue of some woman... she didn't pay much attention to it.

Penelope pointed them to door behind the statue - according to her, Rowena Ravenclaw - and said that was the way to the dorms; boys to the left and girls to the right. Right after they were dismissed, Luna walked to the first bed she found and laid on it, without bothering to ask if any of the girls wanted it.

The witch didn't know how much she stayed there, her eyes wide open like an owl, but eventually she gave up to sleep. Right after that, it happened, like always.

She found herself in a plain white room, so bright that it was difficult to see. The girl blinked to adjust her sight, before looking around. She quickly found what she was looking for; the gate.

A large, black gate contrasting with the ceiling was right in front of her. She walked towards it, before tracing the strange patterns it held with her little fingers. Then, Luna turned her head briefly to the faceless, white girl standing next to her.

"Hello and bye," she called, cheerfully.

The woman gave her a smile with her huge, creepy mouth of hers. Luna paid no mind at it, as she pushed the doors, letting them close behind her. Calmly, she walked in darkness with her hands in front of her, until they touched something. Already aware that was another gate, she pulled them open and was blinded by light.

Luna woke up in her house, in Central. Everything afterwards went as your typical day.

The kid stretched herself, walking towards her wardrobe and since she wasn't the kind of girl that was picky with the clothes she wore, it didn't take much time to choose. She grabbed a violet shirt, blue pants and a green jacket, before slipping in some orange sneakers. Then, she brushed her teeth and did all stuff people do in mornings. After that, she went downstairs.

"Ah, Luna!" the cheerful greet of her uncle called her. "Good morning!"

"Uh, good morning," she smiled, before taking a seat in the table, right in front of him. "I thought you went to work already."

"Well, miracles happen," Hughes said, taking a sip of his coffee. "For instance, you got up pretty early."

Luna looked at the clock in the wall. "Oh, that's right," she noticed. " _I think I went to bed way too early in Hogwarts, so it's logical that I would wake up early in Amestris as well..."_

She was snapped back to reality, as a cup of milk was placed in front of her, together with a plate with pancakes. Luna looked at the pregnant woman who had brought it for her.

"Aunt Garcia!" she almost scolded her. "I could've done it myself."

"Don't worry, Luna," she smiled at the child. "I wanted to do it."

"But you are weeks away from giving birth," Luna finally sighed, giving up. "Alright, next time I'm doing myself."

The woman just nodded, sitting next to the girl. Hughes then looked up to her, suddenly remembering something. "Now that I think about it, we never got to talk about how did your trip to Rush Valley go," he said.

"Oh, pretty good. I'd some trouble with a bunch of nargles, though. That's how I ended up taking that train," she told them, stopping for a bit to sip in her milk. "My professor taught me plenty of useful things, most of them potions. I learnt a few spells, though."

"Spells?" Garcia's eyes lit up. "Show me one! Please!"

"Uh... Let's see..." she took her wand off and spun it around. " _Avis!"_

From the tip of her stick, pale yellow birds were conjured and flew around Maes and Garcia, who stared at them, with wide smiles in their faces. They finally flew out by the open window.

The couple looked straight at Luna, she blushed slightly. "It took me a few days to perfect it, so..."

"It's wonderful," the woman smiled even more, as she stood and walked towards the window. "You sure do beautiful things, Luna."

Luna looked up, surprised. She swore that, for a moment, she heard her mother talking instead of Garcia. Her head dropped for a moment, as memories of the late woman filled her mind. A frown crossed her face when she remembered her deaths - because, if it wasn't terrible enough, she remembered her dying twice.

Her mother died in the other 'world' and then did so again but in here, but Luna never got the concept right. Why were there few people living in her condition, and way a lot living differently? " _Maybe it's a matter of remembering the dream or not..."_ she concluded, but she wasn't that sure. " _But this is not a dream."_

She looked up at her smiling aunt and uncle, and all her worries faded away. Ever since she had moved with them, she had grown a soft spot for them. At this point, she could call them family with all her heart. This was her home now.

But her house in England was her home too.

That confused her greatly.

After some talking, Luna stood from her seat, taking a book in her hand. "I guess I have got to return this to Mr. Tucker, I'd already read it," she spoke. "Maybe, I'll stay to give Nina some company."

"Okay," Garcia nodded. "Take care."

Luna was used to come to the Tucker residence, that was she didn't had any trouble finding the house. Not that it was that difficult to spot, though. The man had an _enormous_ house for him and his almost four year old daughter, Nina.

She reached the house in a matter of seconds, walking towards the door to ring the bell, when she heard some barking behind her. Turning around, she found herself in front of a big, white dog and a little blue eyed girl, who held her brown hair in two braids.

"Big sister Luna!" she called, running up to her.

"Nina! Alexander!" she bended down, receiving the hug from the toddler and then patting the dog in his head. "What are you two doing out here?"

"Daddy has visitors," she pouted a little. "He told me to go play outside."

"Visitors?" Luna repeated, confused. "Well, then. Playing outside isn't a bad thing, though," she stood up, showing the book in her hand to her. "I'm going to return this to your father, after then mind if I play with you a little?"

"Not at all!" she grinned.

Then, Luna turned to the door again and rang the bell. Not long after then, it opened and she saw Shou Tucker's face. Luna smiled politely, as he let her in.

"I came to bring this back to you," she told him, raising the book. "Mind if I borrow another one?"

"Ah, of course. Go get whatever you want, Luna," Tucker smiled. "Some boys are visiting us, though. I think they are in the library right now. I hope it doesn't bother you."

"Nina told me something about it," she replied. "It doesn't matter. I'll be quick."

Luna walked away after that. She moved to the back of the room and walked for awhile until reaching the door she wanted. Upon the opening sound, two heads snapped at her way.

"Oh, sorry," she apologized. "I just wanted to-"

"It's the girl from the other time!"

That was when she really looked at the people in there. There was the boy dressing in a burning red cloak and his brother, the armor. When she recognized them, she smiled politely.

"Edward and Alphonse Elric," she quickly remembered. "What a surprise. I didn't expect to see you here."

"Uh... You were Luna Lovewell, right?" Edward tried to remember correctly.

"Almost. Luna _Lovegood_ ," she corrected, walking towards a bookcase. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

Alphonse was the first to reply. "We are staying at Mr. Tucker's house while we are preparing for the state alchemy examination," he spoke.

"So you both are going to take the exam," she left the book on its place. "Funny thing is, last time I checked, the second part of the exam is an interview."

Luna turned around, looking at them in the eye.

"When I was little, I had to accompany my uncle to one of them - you know, controlling stuff - because there was no one to take care of me left. Then, there was this man, skinnier than a moon frog. They examined him, and failed the test for having asthma," Ed and Al jumped in their spot. She went over the bookcase and stared at the books for a little. "You know, that makes me wonder sometimes. If they act that mean when the man has weak lungs, that would happen if they had no lungs at all?" finally, she selected one she was pleased with. "I just wanted to give you a little warning."

The boys kept silent for a little, giving a look at each other of insecurity. Upon seeing his younger brother's nervousness, Ed forced a smile.

"Don't worry," he told him. "I'm sure Lieutenant Colonel Mustang has something in his mind about it."

"Well, that certainly could apply to him," Luna nodded. "Well, it was nice to see you again, guys. Later!"

A few weeks passed, and Luna continued her routine. Everyday, she would go to Tucker's house to return a book. She would first enter to the house, open the door, say 'hi' to the Elric brothers - maybe talk to them a little more if they were actually paying attention to their surroundings, leave a book, pick another, leave the room and then spend the rest of her time playing with Nina. The boys usually played too, when they stopped studying for once.

"Luna," once, Edward talked to her.

"Yes?" she asked.

"I was wondering," he began. "Are you really _that_ interested in alchemy?"

Alphonse that time looked at him, probably confused at his question. "Isn't it obvious?" he asked. "If she wasn't, she wouldn't come here every day just to pick a random book."

"The thing is that, two days ago, she choose one of the most complex books in this library about bio alchemy, that we couldn't get no matter how we looked at it," he explained. "Yesterday, she picked the Guide of Basic Alchemy, probably the first that people who learn alchemy read in their life. And then," he pointed at the book she was holding right now. "The History of Alchemy, volume 9. Really?"

Luna couldn't help but chuckle. Right after learning how immersed in alchemy this boy was, she noticed that he was intelligent, but she didn't realize that he could be observant as well. " _If he were a wizard, he would unmistakably be a Ravenclaw..."_ she decided.

Alphonse glanced at her book, clearly surprised. "I didn't notice..." he mumbled.

"I asked Mr. Tucker if I could borrow a book, I never mentioned actually _reading_ it," she told them, with a smile. "To be honest, I don't get a word written in these alchemy books. I'm not interested on it, anyway."

"So, why?"

"It just gives me an excuse to come here. I'm pretty sure that even Mr. Tucker knows about it, he just doesn't mind," she walked towards the window. There, she spotted Tucker's daughter, sitting next to her fluffy dog. "Ever since little Nina's mother left, she had been alone. I think I have never seen her with a kid of her age. Being a lonely kid is kind of sad, you know."

She didn't say it, but Luna have always been a lonely girl, mostly in England. Here in Amestris she had _one_ friend that she could remember, but he was in Rush Valley so they didn't see each other really much.

Alphonse, being the most sensible between the two brothers, didn't fail to notice that there was something else behind those words. The bitterness of her voice told him that she also was talking about herself.

But he chose to keep that to himself.

"I came to love her like a little sister," Luna then smiled. "That's why I want to keep her happy, and I can't refrain myself from visiting her. It ended up becoming an habit."

"That's kind of you, Ms. Luna," Al told her.

"I know. Ah, by the way, just call me Luna, please. Formalisms make me feel as old as Merlin's great grandfather."

"Who?" they asked at the same time.

"It doesn't matter."

After then, Luna walked out the house, book in hand, to meet Nina. Leaving it aside, she went to her and cheerfully waved her hand. The kid, cheerfully, ran up to her, embracing the witch by her waist. She, in return, picked her up in her arms lovingly.

"So, what do we play today?" she asked her.

That was when she realized that the child wasn't paying attention at all. Her eyes were focused in the arm she was sitting on, looking at it strangely. "Luna," she said. "Can you put me down, please?"

"Yes, of course."

As soon as Nina was put down, she reached out with her tiny hand to the Lovegood girl's sleeve. She then took the wand that was hidden there, taking a sigh out of Luna as well.

"How did you notice it?" the girl asked.

"I felt it, when I sat on your arm," she replied.

That statement was followed by a period of silence, since Luna had no idea of what the girl was thinking about when she looked at the magic stick. The witch knew that she had to make some excuse, blame some creature and say that it's nothing, but her mind was currently in a blank.

"Luna?" Nina then asked.

"Yes?"

"Are you angry?"

Luna blinked twice, before chuckling at her silly question. She kneeled down, making eye contact with her. "Of course not," she smiled, patting her head. "You are such an intelligent girl, Nina."

The reaction of the little girl, however, wasn't one the older one fully expected. She watched in shock as blue eyes watered, and in a matter of seconds tears started to pour off them. Then, before she could even say anything, before she could ask what was wrong, the child threw her arms around her neck, sobbing in her shoulder. The wand rolled in the floor, without anyone caring nor noticing about that.

"Nina?"

Few moments later, Nina managed to calm down. She released her hold in the witch and held her gaze down. Luna keep silent, knowing that the best thing to do was to let her talk whenever she wanted to. As expected, the child spoke when a couple of seconds passed.

"I'm sorry," she giggled. "It's just that... you're exactly like Mommy."

That surprised her, greatly. "You mean," she took the wand in her hand. "Your mother was a witch?"

When Nina nodded, Luna understood. She then supposed that, maybe, Nina was a squib, because, otherwise she would have shown signs of her magic in her younger years. She slightly wondered if Mr. Tucker knew about magic.

"Does your dad know about magic?" Luna asked.

Nina this time shook her head. The witch then supposed that probably the child had discovered magic, and her mother make her promise to keep it as a secret. What she couldn't get, though, was the reason. If the love between them was strong enough, she would have told him from the beginning.

"Nina," after a bit, Luna continued. "There are a lot more of people who can perform magic than-"

"It's not only that. I've began to think that from a long time ago," she continued. "The way you play with me, everyday. The way you hug me when I'm sad. Even when I found about Mommy magic," she looked straight at her eyes. "She praised me. She called me a clever girl..." Nina sighed. "I miss her."

That hit Luna straight in the heart, feeling happy but a little upset at the same time. She understand the love the kid had for her mother, although the woman had abandoned her, which made her a terrible person in her opinion - and in the opinion of every person her knew.

Luna then decided. She couldn't bring her mother here, nor she could replace the need of motherly love Nina had. Still, she could do her best.

"Tell me, Nina," Luna smiled at her. "Did you mother ever perform magic for you?"

"A lot of times," she looked sad at the memory. "I remember she would always make it snow, even in summer."

She nodded and stood up. Nina looked at her, in confusion.

"Will you keep this secret for me?" she asked.

"Yeah," she nodded.

"Okay, then," she pointed at the sky with her wand. " _Nivea."_

Nina's face instantly lighted up, as she felt something wet and cold touch her nose. Following it, snowflakes started to beautifully fall from the sky, painting the green grass to pure white. Luna gave her a smile, when she noticed that the girl was looking at something behind her.

"Big brother Alphonse!" instantly, Luna hid her wand again. "It's snowing! Let's play!"

As she saw the armored boy being dragged by the little kid, Luna sighed in relief, realizing that she hadn't been caught.

" _I have to be careful,"_ she said to herself. " _I don't know how I can talk my way out a situation like this..."_

"Big sister!" she heard her name. "Wanna play?"

She grinned. "You don't need to ask."

* * *

When Edward looked at the clock, he noticed that it was later than he'd thought. He closed the book he was reading, leaving it on its rightful place before standing up.

"Al?" he called for his brother, but got no response. "Where are you?"

Realizing that he wasn't there, Ed began to search for him. He supposed that he probably was playing, right now, so he walked to the door and pulled it open. What he didn't expect, though, that he would be blinded by the sun glare, reflecting on snow.

"Small brother, there's snow!" Nina shouted, cheerfully.

At first, the alchemist couldn't understand why was it snowing, given that today he hadn't spotted a sign of such a weather. Less than a second later, however, he decided to not care about that, and gave the little girl a sheepish grin.

"Who did you call small?!" he playfully ran after the girl.

Hours later, the four of them and Alexander, the dog, laid in the ground covered of snow, feeling exhausted. Still, they kept the smiles in their faces on.

"I hope you two stay here even after the exam is over," Nina expressed, referring to the brothers. The three people in there sat down, staring at them confusedly. "I mean, big sister Luna comes over every day, but when she's gone I feel alone."

Luna grinned and looked over the Elrics. "In other words, you're her second choice," she joked.

"It's not what I mean!" the kid argued, making all the people there laugh in response. "Still..."

Ed looked for a bit at the little girl, when an idea crossed his mind. He sat down in the snow, grabbing a fallen branch of a tree he had just found on and started drawing some kind of strange symbol.

"It's called a transmutation circle," Edward replied when Nina asked. "It's a charm that makes wishes come true. Just watch."

When he finished drawing the circle, he placed his hands on the top of it. Luna and Nina watched in amazement as the lines started to shine brightly, in blue, and flowers started to grow out of it, tangling themselves until they formed a crown, which he placed in top of an amazed Nina's head.

"Working hard?" a male voice asked from behind them, so they turned around instantly.

"Uncle Maes?" Luna asked, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

Hughes raised a hand in greeting.

"I came to pick Ed up," that surprised said boy, greatly. "It's your birthday, right?"

They all looked at Edward in surprise. Luna, however, wondered how did the brothers forget such an important date. You didn't turn twelve every year, after all.

"How did you know that?" Edward asked.

"Ah, he's in the investigation department," Luna replied, bluntly. "Even if he doesn't do his work efficiently, he still is good at it."

They then looked at her, at the sudden honesty coming out of her mouth, which Hughes just laughed it off. "Now, let's go to my house. My wife is waiting."

Edward and Alphonse instantly looked at Nina, feeling upset at the thought that she wasn't invited. Luna acted fast, as she hugged the kid from behind.

"Ed is the birthday boy, which means that if he wants to invite Nina to his party, so will be her," she said, looking from Edward to Hughes. "Right?"

"Of course she can," the soldier grinned. "Celebrations are more fun with more people!"

Upon arriving at the house, the three kids watched in amazement at Garcia's giant womb, at Luna's amusement. Of course that the silly question would came, and so did it. Alphonse asked if they were going to have a baby, and both parents grinned, blushing a little in embarrassment.

"Soon," Garcia answered. "She's moving around inside saying that she wants to get out."

Luna laughed again, as the three stared at it. For that reason, the woman asked: "Do you want to touch it?"

Instantly, the boys took a couple steps backwards, like they were afraid of touching something of that kind.

"It's a womb, not a sabertooth lizard," Luna joked, even if she didn't notice that half of the people in there had absolutely no idea of what was she talking about. "Personally, I've already touched it several times. It's not bad at all."

Nina grinned. "I want to do it!" she declared.

"Go ahead, little Nina," Garcia smiled warmly.

Hesitating a bit, Nina held her hands in front of her, before placing in the woman's belly. "It moved!" she smiled, radiantly. "Wow!"

Garcia smiled at the other two. "Want to try?" and then laughed when they vigorously shook their head.

The party passed by in a flash, and in a blink of eye Edward had finished his slice of cake. That was when Garcia offered them a cup of tea. They didn't even have time to reply, when the woman fell into her knees, dropping the metal kettle.

In the other second, his husband was at her side. Luna stood up by instinct, as she looked at the situation developing in front of her.

"Dear, it's coming..." the woman weakly spoke.

"The tea?" Hughes stupidly asked.

"No, the _baby,"_ she clarified, feeling already a little irritated.

At this point, everyone panicked. The four kids could do nothing but stare at the couple, as the husband promised his wife that they would get to a doctor.

"Ah!" Alphonse pointed at the window, looking outside it. "There's a blizzard!"

Luna sweatdropped. " _I swear I just make it snow. The blizzard is something else..."_

"Then, I'll bring the doctor here," the man broke in a run. "Hang in there, Garcia!"

"W-Wait!" Ed tried to stop him from going.

But the door had already closed. They stood there, motionless, without knowing what to do. Luna sighed, doing her best to keep her cool. She walked over the woman, kneeling down next to her.

"Al, bring some pillows. Nina, please, get some blankets. Ed, boil some water," the three nodded, rushing over the house to do as they were told. She then turned to the woman, who seemed to be in pain. "And Aunt Garcia, we are moving to the sofa over there. Can you stand?"

"Yes," she nodded.

Luna lied her aunt down, resting her head in the pillows that Alphonse had brought. Nina handed her blankets, and the girl covered the woman with them. In silent comfort, she gave her a soft squeeze in her hand.

"I brought some warm water!" Edward walked into the room, placing the huge sink in the floor. "Do you need anything else?"

"Yes, we will need lots of towels," Garcia replied.

"I'll get some!" Alphonse was about to leave the room, when the woman started to cry in pain.

The crying worsened, as the two alchemists and the other girl looked at each other, cluelessly about what to do. Luna wiped the sweat from her forehead with a cloth.

"I can't bear it!" she screamed. "I'm going to die!"

"Brother!" Al screamed as well. "Ms. Garcia is going to die!"

"No way!" Ed panicked, too.

Luna did her best to keep her smile. "Aunt Garcia, don't be that negative," she spoke sweetly to her. "You will give birth to a beautiful princess and-"

"I'm going to die!"

She screamed for a little more, until her head dropped into a side, falling unconscious. Nina gave a curling scream, as before crying. The boys behind her also panicked, moving their hands around.

"Did she die?!" the armor asked.

"...Guys?..." Luna called. They didn't listen.

"Idiot!" the brother replied. "She just fainted!"

" _Guys."_

"But in alchemy, you need something of high value to create life!"

" _Guys!"_

"Giving birth isn't related to alchemy!"

"GUYS!" she finally was heard.

"What?" they asked at the same time.

"Please, shut up," she said, unusually bluntly.

Maybe, that was the reason they did as they were told. Luna continued to hold her hand for comfort, as Garcia came back to her senses again, groaning.

Feeling useless and frustrated, Ed pressed his hands together. "Damn it," he mumbled. "What should I do?"

"Big brother," Nina called out for him. She had one hand in the water of the sink. "It's cold."

"Ah," he kneeled down and grabbed the sink. "I got it."

In everyone's surprise, however, sparks glowed as soon as he touched the recipient. A few moments later, steam was pouring out the water, as if it had been boiled by magic - only that Luna knew that it wasn't _magic,_ precisely.

"What was that?" the witch asked, mildly confused.

"Nothing?" he wasn't sure, though.

"What do you mean nothing? Where's the transmutation circle?" Alphonse brought his hands to his head. "Then, why did the water boil?!"

"I don't know! It must have been my spirit!"

"IT'S COMING!"

They looked at her for a moment, and Luna had the feeling _that_ was coming too...

"WHAT SHOULD WE DO?!"

She was right, panic had arisen once again. Sighing, she stood up and looked at her aunt for a moment, fists clenching. " _Will magic have any use if I...?"_

"Luna?" Alphonse called. "What are you thinking-?"

"We have to do the delivery," she declared. "You all, out of the room."

"WHAT?!"

* * *

Luna sighed in relief, as she watched the woman cooing her baby in her arms. Hughes was in tears right now, moved at the sight of his newborn daughter. The doctor - who had arrived in mid-delivery - was smiling pleasantly.

"Well done! Well done, Garcia!" Hughes cried. "Luna, good job!"

"It was nothing, really," the witch replied.

"To be honest, I'm surprised," the doctor told her. "I didn't expect an eleven year-old young woman like you handle the situation that well."

Nina, Alphonse and Edward were there now, staring with wide eyes at the baby. The older boy's eyes brightened at the sight.

"It's amazing," he said, and Luna looked at him, strangely. "The birth of a life. To think that woman can make what alchemist have been spending hundreds of years trying... To create a human. It's amazing."

"Do you ever think of anything that it's not alchemy?" Luna grinned a little.

"Rarely," he replied with a smirk, with all honesty.

She just chose to shook her head, as her aunt called her over. She was delighted, when she let take the infant in her arms.

"Everything is thanks to you all," Garcia told them. "Thank you very much."

"W-We three didn't do anything," Ed laughed, nervously. "Luna did all the work."

"No," she shook her head. "You stayed by my side."

That simple words made the three happy, even more that they already were. Luna smiled fondly at her cousin for a while, before asking:

"So, does she have a name?"

"She's Elicia," Hughes replied, looking closer at his daugher.

"Elicia, huh?" she whispered.

That day, Luna made a vow to herself. Since she was the one who brought her into life - even if aided by the doctor - she would always protect her. Always. Without a fail.

"Welcome to the world, then, Elicia."

* * *

Do you know the feeling of having to wake up after a pleasant dream? Well, Luna had just experimented exactly the same.

Luna's eyes opened, staring up ahead, at the ceiling. It took her a few moments to realize where she was. Not in England nor in Amestris. She was in Hogwarts, again. As an only child, ordinary student of Ravenclaw who can't even manage to make a friend.

She shrugged the bad thoughts off her head, as she sat up in the bed. Having Potions class that early in the morning was bad enough.

And let's hope that Professor Snape didn't have a bad morning today, too...

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 **AUTHOR'S NOTE**

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Okay, guys, that's it for today.

I didn't expect for three reviews already! Thanks to the Guest, MadameMirage77 and TouchDouche. You are the best! I sincerely hope you liked this episode as well.

Lastly, as MadameMirage77 suggested, I probably will make Ed go to Hogwarts in one chapter. I don't know, I find it interesting to write his reaction to Luna's poor treatment. I think it would a nice thing to do :D

Well, I have nothing more to say. Thank you, dear reader, for passing by this fanfic! See you later!


	3. The Birth of the Fullmetal Alchemist

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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 **CHAPTER THREE**

 **The Birth of the Fullmetal Alchemist**

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Luna, once more, was glad that Dumbledore saved the day. At Defense Against Dark Arts class they were working with ghosts, so the professor thought that it would be a magnificent idea to bring a real one to the class - even if they already were used to see them. The problem was, however, _who_ he brought to the lesson.

Yes, it was no one else but _Peeves._

As expected the classroom ended up as a mess. Although not even Professor Lockhart was able to do anything to control ghost, they were lucky enough that their headmaster heard the noises in the room and came in, successfully calming the mischievous ghost's rampage.

That was over, and now the girl was walking through the castle's grounds when she spotted Ginny Weasley, sitting cross legged in front of some black notebook. Luna recognized it, having seeing the girl writing on it, several times.

What caught the blonde's attention, though, was something else. Surrounding the student, she could spot three Slytherin boys, one of them trying to snatch her notebook from her.

" _No one notices it?"_ she asked herself. " _They are clearly harassing this poor girl!"_

Luna clearly wasn't a Gryffindor, given that she wasn't what you could call 'brave', precisely. However, she gathered her courage together and walked close to the scene. The students in there snapped her heads to her when she arrived. The Lovegood girl chose to keep her innocent smile on.

"I wonder why are you looking at me like that," she softly spoke.

"Go away, Lovegood," Harper, one of the bullies hastily answered her. "You have nothing to do here."

"Oh, is that so? I apologize, I thought that you were having a party here," she continued, before glancing at Ginny. "Then, I saw that Ginny looked a little uncomfortable and jumped into the conclusion that she might not be used to be around boys like you. I just thought that she might be a bit more pleasant for her to be with a least a girl of her age to chat with."

Ginny didn't say a word, but stared wide eyed at the girl who was clearly defending her. The boys, mostly - again - Harper, were growing irritated. He stepped ahead, a disgusting smirk on his face.

"Oh, really? Chatting with you?" he played along. "Come on, what were you going to talk about? Blabbering humdingers?"

"There is not such a thing as a 'blabbering humdinger', but if you meant ' _blibbering_ humdingers', perhaps it wouldn't be such a bad idea."

"Are you serious?!" his friend, William Darby, laughed loudly. "Not even a three year old brat would actually think they exist!"

At the comment, Luna grew a little annoyed, but hide it under the unchanging grin. "Take a look at the Quibbler and you will see how wrong you are," she replied.

"No, thanks," Harper waved his hand around. "I'd die from laughing if I ever tried to read anything that weird old man wrote."

At the single mention of her father, Luna finally hit the ceiling and couldn't refrain herself from slapping her classmate across his cheek. Gasps were heard in all the school ground.

"Don't you dare to speak sick of my dad!" she finally snapped.

"What will you do if I do?" he argued back. "You need to accept reality! That _loony_ old man does nothing but write rubbish. Why else do you explain the lack of people who read it? Huh? The Quibbler is _trash."_

Luna should have know better than what she did; she tried to push him. Naturally, the guy was physically stronger, managing to throw her into the floor. He now looked somehow angry, much more than before.

"You are crazy, you know! Crazy! Mad! Insane!" he started to shout to her, but then something crossed his mind, and let a sly smirk appear in his features. "Well, I don't think it's entirely your fault. I sure it runs in the blood. Don't you agree, _Loony_ Lovegood?"

Feeling annoyed, she quickly stood up. "What did you call me?" she whispered, before noticing the crowd of students gathering around her. " _Oh, no. This can't be good."_

"Loony Lovegood, that's fitting!" she started hearing students murmuring.

"Loony! It's almost a cute nickname, isn't it?"

"Loony sounds like a dog name to me, though."

"Loony, Luna. Luna, Loony."

"Wow, they even sound similar."

"Isn't Loony a really _loony_ girl?"

"Loony Lovegood!"

Luna's eyes started watering, before glaring at Harper, who had a triumphant grin in his stupid face. Without bearing the situation anymore, she pushed him out her way and ran between the students, who just kept calling her: "Loony Lovegood! Loony Lovegood!"

" _Stop it, please! No more!"_ she cried in her head.

She ran through the halls and finally found the only place where no one could bother her; the first floor girl's lavatory. Once there, she cried, taking advantage of the fact that the Moaning Myrtle was in there; not a single person would know that it was her. They would think that it was the ghost, as always.

Luna stayed there until the night arrived, managing to calm herself down. Without even wondering to eat, she made her way to the common room, and went straight to her room.

She wanted to sleep, nothing else.

* * *

After crossing the gate, as she always did, Luna woke up in her bedroom. She stayed there for a beat, sighing to forget all her worries back at Hogwarts. She would take care of them later.

She got ready for the day pretty quickly, and went downstairs. What she saw there surprised her for a slight moment, but then remembered.

Elicia was born just yesterday. The memory resurged in her mind, and she smiled, feeling her heart being warmed up at it.

"Good morning," Luna greeted her aunt, who was holding Elicia. "Did you sleep well?"

"Not really. Not even Maes did. Did you?" when Luna nodded, Garcia giggled slightly. "To be expected. Once you fall asleep, there's hardly anyone able to wake you up," the woman then smiled fondly at her newborn daughter. "I have no regrets, though. Staying awake is worth it."

The young witch grinned as well, going to the kitchen to get her breakfast. When she was back, she ate it really quickly and stood up. Then, she looked at her cousin.

She couldn't resist the urge. "Aunt Garcia?" she asked.

"Yes, honey?"

"Can I hold Elicia again?"

Garcia looked at her for a second, before nodding her head with a gentle smile, kindly placing the child in the girl's arms. The mother found the scene enjoyable to see, given the love she had for both females, equally. She bet that anyone could think that they were sisters just by looking at them.

A little after, Luna reluctantly gave her cousin back to her aunt and stood up, causing Garcia to look at her strangely. "Today is the State Alchemist Examination," quickly, she explained herself. "I suppose I will take a look."

"Is that so?" she said. "Well, make sure _they_ safely arrive at Al and Ed's hands. You spent a lot of time doing these, right?"

"Well, that's true," Luna nodded her head, happily, as she pulled the door open. "See you later!"

As the young witch walked through the quiet streets of Central, her eyes landed on the small bag she carried, and giggled. She suddenly felt like a little girl on Christmas morning all over again, and a bit silly for acting that way. For the first time in her whole life, the girl wasn't able to understand herself; she was probably overreacting a little. She wasn't as excited as she was now when it came to Nina, so what was different?

Quickly, she realized that the only difference between the little girl and the Elric brothers was the age gap. To think about it, Luna couldn't remember the last time she hanged around kids as old as her.

Her heart felt warmer all of sudden, when she thought about the boys. She had to agree that they didn't get to talk that much at the beginning, but as time passed by she grew closer to them.

Luna used to think that she possibly would never be able to make a friend, because she was different; even the Sorting Hat pointed it out. So, it was logical that she had to be treated as such, right? Today's discussion with the Slytherin first years - particularly Harper - was proof enough of it.

Well, there were the Elric brothers to prove her wrong. Sure, at the beginning her unique personality creeped them out a bit, who wouldn't be after all? But the thing is, they never made fun of her. They treated her as a _person_ , from the very start.

She had thought that barrier between them would get tougher and tougher as they spent time together, their patience growing thicker at the same time. That was how they proved her wrong; the contrary happened. Surprisingly, the uncomfortable tension when she walked at the room began to dispel, day by day. Or at least so she felt.

Although it made her happy, it confused her. In the end, who were them to her? Partners? Acquaintances? Or could it be...

Luna abruptly came to a stop. " _Friends? Are they my friends?"_ but then, another question began to mess around her mind, so much that she wondered if there were wrackspurts nearby. " _Am I their friend?"_ she wondered. " _What am I to them?"_

Slightly discouraged by her own insecurity, she began to walk again, in a much quieter pace. Once she reached the building, she sat in a bench and waited for the others to arrive.

It didn't take long, though. In no time, the witch spotted Nina walking around with her huge white dog, still wearing her precious flower crown in the top of her head. Next to her, the armor and the little alchemist were arriving.

"Ah!" Nina was the first one to notice Luna. "Big sister!"

All of sudden, she felt a little better. Waving her hand, she walked towards the trio, who greeted in response. "Well, how are you two doing?" she asked the two boys. "Are you nervous?"

"A lot," Alphonse replied.

"Not at all," Edward honestly told her.

"Good to know that you at least _agree_ on something," giggling, Luna whispered, her voice slightly oozing sarcasm.

At the male blonde declaration, Al looked at his brother, surprised at it. "Are you serious, brother?" he spoke to him. "Didn't you say that the chances of you passing the examination were too small for you to approve?"

"Wherever the exam is difficult or not, I can't do anything about it right now," he threw his arms behind his head. "I can't really be nervous about something I can't help. Besides, I don't think it's convenient to be anxious before a written exam at all."

"Actually, being a little nervous, as long as it's not exaggerated, can help you," Luna told them, and they both looked at her. "Anxiety makes your body segregate adrenaline, which can keep you fully awake during the exam. It can help you focus better."

"Ah, that's true," the Elrics pronounced at the same time, as Nina just blinked at her wide eyed, not fully getting what she was talking about.

Nina then decided to give up on understanding, and Edward thought about explaining it more easily for her to get. He, however, was cut off before starting with her gasp.

"Oh, no!" she looked at Luna. "I left _it_ at home!"

"What?" Al asked, unable to understand.

"Oh, well. You should then give _it_ to them before the practical skills test," Luna spoke, already considering that they would pass the written test as an obvious fact.

"What's ' _it'_?" Ed asked, feeling curious about that.

"A secret," Luna grinned. "For now."

That irritated the alchemist a bit more, but he chose to shut up through a faint pout. He was about to say something more, when they all heard the door of the building opening. A man started to call the examinees.

"We should go, then."

The brothers gave an only step ahead, when Luna remembered something she had forgotten. "Ah, wait!" she called, opening her little bag.

They stopped, and looked as she took something and gave them to them. Ed looked at the bracelet she had given him. It was a braided black thread, with a beautiful feather attached to it. Strange looking, sure, but it clearly was hand made.

"What is this?" Al asked, looking at his own in awe.

"It's my way to wish you good luck... and to protect you from the Aquavirius Maggot's infection, of course," they looked strangely at her last sentence. "We can't tell for sure if there wasn't anybody wicked enough to fill the water with those things, infecting it automatically. People affected by drinking that water, will look normal until the moment they try to think hard. Then, they won't be able to do it accurately, and fail to get a clear thinking. I don't want that happening to you guys, just to be sure."

"Ah, oh..." Al didn't know how to answer. "Well, I..."

Ed, who had learnt that the best thing to do was not to take her seriously, just nodded at her explanation and looked back at the bracelet he held in his fresh hand. After a few seconds, he smiled and closed his hand into a fist, with his gift inside.

"Thank you, Luna," he then looked at Al and started to run. "Come on, Al. We'll be late!"

"Ah, wait for me, brother!" he quickly looked at Luna. "Thank you!" he spoke in a flash, before running after Edward.

Although, at the end, both brothers passed the written test with flying colors, only Edward did the interview; Luna suspected that Lieutenant Colonel Mustang didn't let Alphonse do it to prevent them from knowing that he was nothing but an empty armor. Even though she couldn't do anything about that, she still felt sorry for the metal boy.

The armored alchemist eventually got over with it, and accompanied his brother to the door of the building the day of the last part of the examination, without any regrets.

Before Edward got in, Luna crouched next to Nina. "You remembered to brought _it_ today, right?" she whispered to her. Nina nodded eagerly, as Alphonse smiled - or so Luna supposed since she couldn't see his face after all.

"Big brother, here," Nina handed a piece of paper to Ed.

He looked at it, noticing that the ' _it'_ thing was a drawing that the girl had made for him. He looked over it, realizing that she had drawn his own face, along Luna, Alphonse, Alexander and herself, all smiling. In the top, she had tried to draw a transmutation circle, similar to the one he had drawn in front of her to transmute the crown of flowers days before.

"It's a charm that makes wishes come true!" she grinned at him.

"I see. Thanks, Nina," he smiled at her, before looking at the other two. The three nodded at each other.

Like that, Alphonse, Luna, Nina and her loyal dog, Alexander, watched as Edward disappeared, closing the door behind his body. As they waited for something to happen, the metal boy picked the child up and placed her above her shoulders.

"Will big brother be okay?" Nina asked.

"He has your good luck charm, so he'll be fine, Nina," Al replied, kindly.

"Oh," she then noticed the bracelet he held in his armor's wrist. "He still has big sister's one, right?"

"Of course he has. That's why there's no way he can fail."

"..." Luna noticed something. "I wouldn't be so sure."

The other two looked ahead and realized what surprised the witch that bad. There was an enormous paper balloon flying up to the sky. As soon as they caught the glimpse of it, the pressure of the hydrogen inside exploded one of the sides of it, making it fall back to the ground.

They heard screams, making them wonder and worry about what was happening inside. Before they could do anything, though, something else happened; flower petals started to fly everywhere, generating a beautiful view. The screams stopped along their apparition.

Alphonse looked at Luna. "I would," he told her. She gave up, accepting that perhaps she was wrong this time around.

And, as they suspected, Edward Elric passed his State Alchemist Examination at the tender age of twelve.

This is how the famous Fullmetal Alchemist was born.

* * *

As soon as Edward returned to Tucker's house, he started to brag and show his brand new pocket watch. As soon as he did so, however, Alexander snached it from him.

"Hey, wait!" the state alchemist ran after the dog. "Give it back! Give it back!"

Alphonse sighed. "He's being toyed with again..." he mumbled.

"He is the youngest state alchemist in all the world... And he is being bullied by a dog twice his size," Luna giggled.

"Who did you call s-?! Ah! Hey, don't chew it! Give it back!"

That only made the other three chuckle louder, and stare at him chasing the big animal while Mr. Tucker went outside and had a short talk with the soldier, Havoc. Tucker gained their attention back by clapping his hands.

"Now, let's celebrate Edward's success in the qualification exam with a feast tonight!" he told them. "Luna, you can stay over today if you want to."

Luna nodded, accepting the treat as Nina threw her hands in the air, happily. Ed, who had already managed to win his silver clock back grinned at the thought of a party.

"You care to join us?" Tucker turned to Havoc.

"I still have work to do," he politely declined. The Sewing Life Alchemist gave him a nod and was about to leave, when Havoc caught his attention once more. "I have a message from the Lieutenant Colonel; it's almost time for the assessment day. He is looking forward it."

He kept quiet for a beat. "Yes," his smile returned. "I'm aware of that."

The pair of alchemists and the witch stared at him, curiously, until the soldier left and Tucker got inside the house, choosing to not say anything about it. They were about to do the same thing, when Luna suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong?" Al asked her.

"Blimey, I forgot. I should tell Aunt Garcia and Uncle Maes that I won't be coming home."

She walked to the center of the garden, taking out a small notebook from her pocket along a pen. The three watched in confusion, as she started to write something. She ripped the small note off.

"What are you doing?" Nina asked.

"Just watch," she nearly folded the piece of paper and whistled. "Fluffly! Can you come over here, please?"

"Fluffy?" Ed raised one of his eyebrows.

"It's not 'Fluffy', Fluffy is already somebody's dog," she explained, like they were actually going to understand. "He's called ' _Fluffly'_. Like the adjective 'fluffy' and the verb 'fly', do you get it?"

"Truth to be told, I don't."

Luna didn't answer his statement, because she noticed something more important than the etymology of her pet's name. The kids watched, mouth wide open, as a beautiful barn owl flew from the sky and rested in the girl's arm.

" _Fluffly_ is a freaking _owl_..." Ed mumbled, bewildered, before shaking his head and talking again. "What are you going to use him as? A messenger pigeon?" he joked.

Though Luna didn't seem to get the joke, and nodded innocently. "More like an owl, actually," she told him, placing the folded note in his paws to hold. "Okay, Fluffly. I need to get this to Aunt Garcia," they watched in disbelief as she talked with the animal. "Ah, by the way. Will you bring me a change of clothes to sleep with tonight? Thank you. Take your time."

With that said, the owl took off and disappeared through the clouds. Nina held a huge grin in her face while Ed kept a blank expression, as his mind was incapable to register that he had just seen a messenger _owl._

"Did you just ask him to bring you clothes?" Al asked, shocked as well.

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

"Well, you know. I don't think owls are capable to understand such tasks."

Luna smiled. "He is a trained owl I got from my mother," she explained. "You'd be surprised. Owls are really intelligent, even more than some humans. Oh, well, you will see when he comes back."

They weren't really convinced, but eventually decided to let her go in favor to get inside the house. Tonight, they were going to have a party, and everyone was excited at the thought of it.

 **. - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - .**

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE**

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Originally, I intended to make the chapter larger, but decided against it. This one is large enough, and even more than necessary. I think.

First of all, I'd like to thank the two people who wrote a review to me:

 **Helios. J. Mears:** I glad you liked it! Honestly, I wasn't sure if it would work out, this mechanic was strange even to me. Here is a update, I hope you like it as well as this one and thanks again for reviewing me!

 **kwerli:** Thank you for your suggestion:D I was planning to do something like that, but I didn't know where exactly to put it. I think that, as you said, the best option is to place it at the end of the story. I might change my mind in the future, but I think that's the way it will go. I hope you like this chapter!

Last but not least, thanks to all those are following this fic and/or have it on their favorite stories list, along those who just passed by here.

See you all later :D


	4. Fallen Snow

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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 **CHAPTER FOUR**

 **Fallen Snow**

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Time passed by in a flash. Night arrived, and the feast was over quickly, so the four of them went to the guests' rooms. In this very moment, Ed was focused in the letter he was writing, when he heard a sudden knock in the window in front of him, supprising him to the point of almost been almost knocked off his chair.

And nearly had a heart attack when he saw that. "What the hell?" he breathed out, in shock.

Curiously, Luna peeked at the window and saw what was happening. She smiled, opening it slightly to let Fluffly inside. "Oh, my. You are so late," she sighed, taking the neatly folded clothes he was holding. "Honestly, will you ever grow up? You lazy owl. I don't want to know how many naps you took before delivering this to me..."

She looked over her shoulder, noticing the weird looks she was receiving. "Did he-?" Al was about to ask.

"I told you. Owls are awesome."

Ed, who had given up to find any sense around the young witch, let out a long sigh, focusing back in his letter. He tapped his pen on the white sheet, thinking about what he was going to write. His concentration slipped out him once more when he heard a sweet, young voice speaking close to his ear.

"A letter?" Nina asked, curiously, looking over his shoulder. He visibly tensed. "Who are you writing to?"

Blushing furiously, he covered the half-written letter with his arms. "That's none of your business!" he yelled at her, clearly embarrassed.

"Brother, you're writing to Winry, right?" Al asked him.

"I'm only giving her a report!" he then smirked, triumphantly. "'I was able to become a State Alchemist, how do you like that?!'"

"Is Winry your girlfriend, big brother?" the child asked, innocently.

Ed's face fell, his cheeks exploding out of heat. Al smiled, leaning over like he was telling a _big_ secret.

"The truth is..." he started to say.

"No! No! No! You're wrong!"

"Why are you lashing out that bad if he is wrong, then?" Luna laughed at him. "It does nothing but prove him right," the boy freeze in his place, flushing even more. "So, you already have a long distance relationship? That's cute."

"I'm not!"

The conversation held for a while, until Nina decided to get a piece of paper and lots of pencil colours. "I'm going to write a letter too!" she declared. "To my mom!"

At those innocent words, the mood died down. She started drawing some faces, probably her parents', dog's and her own, while she explained that her mother had left after saying that her father was a good-for-nothing. The three didn't know what to say about it.

"I hope Mom sends me a reply..." she mumbled.

"Hey, Nina, I've got an idea," Luna proposed, to lift her mood. "Why don't we let Fluffly get the letter to her?" she looked at her own pet, patting his head. "He won't rest until she hands her your message. She will surely write you back."

The child's eyes lightened up, and nodded energetically. When her drawing was finished, Luna gave it to her pet and he took off flying. She beamed, feeling impressed at the sight of an owl flying that gracefully in the middle of the night.

Soon enough, Nina fell asleep. Mr. Tucker arrived shortly after that, gently picking his slumbering daughter up in his arms. "Mom..." she mumbled in her sleep, which surprised everyone in there, and made Tucker a little upset.

"She keeps talking about her mother," Al commented. "Why did she really leave?"

Shou forced a smile. "My wife couldn't bear being poor, so she left. I happened shortly before I became a State Alchemist," he confessed. "If they take away my qualification, I'll return to the way I was back then. I must pass this assessment if I am to protect this lifestyle."

"... Dad, do your best..." once again in her sleep, Nina encouraged her father.

* * *

Luna was rashly awaken when she heard Fluffly's peak poking the window. " _Oh, this isn't good,_ " she thought to herself. " _If I'm awake here... does that mean that I fell asleep in Professor Snape class?"_

The owl knocked again, making her jump out the bed. Her gaze shifted to her roommates to confirm that they were asleep, before signalling her pet to keep quiet. She then opened the window and noticed that he still was holding Nina's drawing.

" _He can't find her. Maybe she used a masking spell?"_ she wondered. " _Why would she do that?"_

Hardly seeing anything, she took a piece of paper and wrote to the only person she could trust that would get to the heart of the problem, her professor. Silently, she folded the letter inside Nina's one and gave it to Fluffly. He flew away. Though, Luna was left with a feeling of uneasiness.

"He didn't find her?" a voice startled her. She turned around to spot Al, wide awake.

"Oh, sorry," she spoke when she calmed down a bit. "Did I woke you up?"

"Ah, no. Not at all," he replied almost instantly. "I've been awake all the time."

That was when it hit her; of course he was. A living armor didn't necessary need to eat nor sleep, mostly because they were apparently immortal. She slightly wondered, what would it be to not sleep? She meant, it would be upsetting to sit all night alone while everyone else is sleeping. Now, she would never complain about her dreaming situation again.

"So, what happened?" the armored guy insisted.

"Ah, it's nothing really," she quickly dismissed his question. "He just got a little lost, that's all. I sent him to ask for directions to a friend of mine. He'll find her in no time."

He wasn't completely convinced, but eventually he let that go. Luna smiled at him when, all of sudden, she felt attacked by a wave of tiredness. Supposing that she was already waking up at Hogwarts right now, she waved her hand at him and got in her bed again, falling asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

The next morning, Luna woke up feeling a lot more energetic - even though she still remembered being scolded by her Potions teacher for sleeping in. She sat up on her bed, just to realize that she was the last one to do so; both brothers were gone by now. She changed quickly and ran to the garden.

There, it didn't take much of her time to meet with her owl as promised. She let him perch in her shoulder, as she read the letter her professor had sent her.

"I knew it," she hissed under her breath. " _He contacted the Ministry... and they can't trace her either?"_

"Knew what?"

It shouldn't be a surprise for her anymore, to be caught by somebody from behind - mostly the Elric brothers - and be forced to lie her way out of it. Deciding that this time she couldn't lie to Ed, she chose to say the truth, if not hiding part of it, that's it.

"Nina's mother can't be found anywhere," she told him, making him snicker a bit.

"What did you expect from a owl, idiot?" he shrugged his shoulders.

"I wish it could be that easy," she shook her head. "I had already contacted a friend of mine, who can find whoever you want in a matter of seconds; but nothing. It's like she vanished into the thin air."

That left Ed thinking deeply, bringing a hand on his chin. "That would explain why she never answered any of Nina's letters," he finally said. "I really need to investigate about Mr. Tucker's chimera..."

Luna gasped. "You don't think that-!" she breathed.

"I'm not sure. I hope I'm wrong," he declared, before turning around and breaking into a run. "I'm going to the library!"

Before she could say anything, the alchemist was already gone. Luna narrowed her eyes slightly, before running inside the house. Something was bugging her a lot.

She would have to ask him, personally.

* * *

"What happened, Luna?" Mr. Tucker asked the girl who was currently sitting in front of him. "You said you wanted to ask me something, didn't you?"

"Ah, right. It's something I was curious about," she started to say. "It was about alchemy - well, more or less - so I believed that I should ask a professional on this field."

Tucker only smiled, waiting for the question the girl had in mind.

"Somewhere, I read about a kind of art that is really similar to alchemy, but most of the people don't believe on it; mostly because it doesn't held logic, and that there isn't a law of it such as the Equivalent Exchange," she started, before looking him at the eye. "It's called magic. I just wanted to know... Is it real?"

The man's eyes opened slightly, and Luna quickly started to ramble. She didn't need him to know her true nature. "It's only that, if it really exists, I'd like to study it. I'm not good at logic, but if magic is something that you can perform without having to use your head every single time, I think it's perfect," she lied.

"Magic, huh?" he finally told her. "Yeah, I know about it. My wife was awfully skilled at it."

Luna frowned. " _As I suspected,"_ she thought. "Really?! Tell me, is there a way for me to learn about it?!"

"I'm sorry, but it's nothing you can study all night and perform in the day," he kindly told her. "It runs in the blood. If you have no witch blood in your veins, you will never have magic no matter how hard you try," Tucker sighed. "That's my theory, though. You should ask someone else, because I don't really know. I just learnt it little before my wife left me, so she didn't tell me much about it."

"I see," she did her best to look upset. "Thanks anyway."

* * *

"So, did you have any luck?" Luna asked through the phone, even if she found it difficult to concentrate, mostly because of Hughes playing with his baby daughter. Still, she couldn't help but smile at the cute scene.

" _Nothing,"_ Edward replied from the other end. " _Mr. Tucker's information is classified. I need the permission of some state alchemist called Iron... something."_

"The Iron Blood Alchemist? Don't you even try. That guy scares me sometimes," she confessed. "It's not like you are going to get anything from him, though."

" _So, what do we do now?"_

Luna sighed, not a single idea crossing her mind. Another yell from Hughes annoyed her at top point, so she turned to say something. That was when the idea hit her.

"You can ask Uncle Maes if you like, the guy likes to help little kids like you," she ignored the fit he began to throw at the word 'little'. "He might or might not know about it, but he still in the investigation department. It's worth a try."

" _Got it. I'll be there in a minute."_

Luna barely had time to tell her uncle that Ed was coming until he arrived. The first thing Hughes did, as expected, was to show her daughter at his face as soon as the alchemist sat down.

"Here, little Elicia~" there he went. Ed sweatdropped, without knowing how to react. "This is Ed, your sister Luna's friend~"

"Honey," chuckling, Garcia took Elicia off his reach. "Please listen to Ed's story."

Clearly upset, Hughes watched at his wife held their daughter closer to her chest and walked away, closing the door right behind her. His head dropped and released a long sigh.

"Luna said something about Tucker's chimera," he sounded resigned.

"Yes," Ed nodded. "You're from the investigation department, right, Major? I thought that you might know something."

"Just ask him in person," he raised an eyebrow, in confusion.

"I thought that it would be better if we left the poor man alone," Luna jumped into the conversation. "He has enough with the assessment day coming to be bothered with such a superfluous couple of matters."

Hughes hummed for a bit, his expression slightly becoming professional, like always he was talking about his work.

"I don't know much about it," he started. "Tucker created the first chimera in the world that could understand and speak human words."

"Is that so?" the boy asked.

"The chimera definitely said one thing... 'Give me death'," the pair of kids glanced at each other, briefly. "After that, it didn't eat anything and died."

"Why did Mr. Tucker think of creating something like that?" Ed asked, almost to himself.

"I don't know. But there was someone in the military who thought it could be used."

Then Luna decided that it was her time to ask what it had been bugging her all the morning. "Do you know why did Mr. Tucker's wife leave him and Nina alone?" she asked.

Hughes raised an eyebrow at her. "Death isn't something she can help, you know," both gasped at the revelation. "You didn't know? She died before she came to Central City... Or maybe I'm wrong, I don't know."

Then the phone ringed, and Hughes picked it up. After he hung up, he told both of them that there was a serial murdered around, and he had killed a woman. No matter how hard she insisted, the Major didn't let his niece go to see such a grotesque scene. That, and that it was a military problem, she was a civilian.

And had no more option than to let go.

* * *

Edward woke up with a gasp and looked around in panic. He was in his room in Tucker's house, shirtless. He sat on his bed in a flash, the images of his dead mother didn't leave his mind even if he was awake, even if he wanted.

"Drink this," when he looked at his right, he found Luna handing him some kind of small vial filled with a baby blue fluid. "What's wrong? It's not poison, you know."

The alchemist, hesitantly, held the vial between his fingers and gulped its contents. He then looked at the girl, who took the container back and placed it safely in a box full of other vials, in different colours.

"What are those?" he asked.

"Huh? Ah," she realized what he was talking about by following his gaze. He was looking at her potions. "Homeopathy, some given by a friend of mine. Some made by myself."

Ed looked a little surprised at it, and snickered slightly. "So you believe in that?" he asked. "I didn't think there would be anybody left with that mind..."

"Oh, believe me, we are more than you expect. But of course, we're not common. After all, what's a word of a simple civilian compared to the one that belongs to the almighty physician of the late queen of the United Kingdom? Less than a domestic elf's to his master's," she rambled, again, not aware that Ed only got half of what she had said. "Well, I don't think you can understand. You are an alchemist."

"Still, they make no sense," he mumbled under his breath.

"Told you," she grinned from ear to ear. "There are a lot of people like you actually, who just can't understand that, perhaps, not everything has to have a scientific explanation for it to happen. Things can just work out. Take yourself as an example."

"What do you mean?"

"You've calmed down, didn't you?" at the mention of it, Ed realized that she was right. "If I'm not wrong, you are breathing fine and you aren't screaming your mother's name in fright."

That was what surprised him the most was that last sentence. "Did I?" he asked, she nodded.

"I came here as soon as I heard you fainted, after seeing something ugly. A woman's body, I suppose?" she began to explain the situation for him. "For a couple of hours, you didn't wake up. You just kept calling for your mom and apologizing to her," after she got to that part, Ed looked away and frowned, lying back in the bed. "That, and the sight of your, well, automail, caused Mr. Tucker and me to jump into a rather, uh... _upsetting_ conclusion. But, still, I think I understand your feelings."

Luna just stared at him and sighed, she wouldn't force the boy to talk if he didn't want to. However, she wondered if he would feel a little more comfortable if she talked a little about herself, to gain a bit of his trust.

"I used to live in Rush Valley, you know. My father died before I could speak, so it didn't affect me much. I didn't miss him, probably because I somehow can see him, sometimes, in my dreams. It's like he never left," she explained, twisting the reality a little, though. "My mother raised me all alone, but she still was human."

Ed looked at her by the corner of his eye. "Is she dead?" she nodded her head as an answer. "How did it happen?"

"It happened when I was nine, it was rather awful... and really strange, you know," Luna looked down, summoning old memories. "Mom fell in some sort of coma. I remember falling asleep and dreaming about her dying, crushed by the roof of our own house. I woke up right after that, only to find out that she had actually passed out in her sleep. Pretty crazy, don't you think?"

"Really," he mumbled.

"I moved with Mom's sister, Aunt Garcia, since she was my only relative alive to take care of me. I came to love them as my parents over time, so I think that things didn't end as bad as they could be, for me," she finished her story, giving him a huge smile. "But, you know? Had I known how to perform alchemy at that time, I would have done the same thing than you guys without thinking about it twice. Some people can call it a sin, but I don't think that having human feelings is such a thing. If not, we would all be sinning for every single thing we do."

Luna was glad that Edward wasn't the kind of person who would instantly say he was sorry about the losing of someone, even if he didn't feel anything nor had to be. She, honestly, couldn't get people like that, even if it was the majority of the people.

They kept in a awkward silence for a moment, until Luna decided that he wasn't going to say anything. Sighing deeply, she reached for her potion box and made an attempt to stand up to leave the room. That's when he started talking.

"Al and I lived with our family in Resembool, a quiet village that wasn't really interesting, but we were happy. That was until, well, our father left home. He abandoned us. Mom always thought he was coming back, but he never did," he confessed, not daring to make eye contact. "With time, Al and I started reading books from his office; they were about alchemy."

"So, you grew so interested on alchemy because of you father?" she asked and for some strange reason she didn't get at the moment, Ed glared at her.

"It wasn't because of him, it was because of our mom," he confessed. "Every time we performed alchemy for her, she praised us. She looked happy, and we liked it, so we kept on studying. Everything was okay, until she fell sick."

Already guessing what was going to happen, Luna felt suddenly depressed. Ed seemed pained at the memory, but kept talking.

"That was when we finally understood why was she happy when we learnt alchemy; because we reminded her of our father. We understood as well that he was the reason she fell so sick in first time. Her health worsened, because she loved him, she missed him," his voice was darker than before. "And, no matter how many letters we sent him, he never came back. He didn't even show up in her funeral," he chuckled. "And people still ask me why I hate him..."

"I can understand it," she told him, lowly. "You two did... you know, after then, right?"

"We tried to bring our mother back, which obviously failed. Human transmutation _never_ works," he closed his eyes and sighed deeply. "Do you know what is the worst? It was _me_ who convinced Al to try it. I ignored the Law of Equivalent Exchange. I lost my leg and Al lost his body. I didn't want to let him go," he touched softly his automail and clenched his metal hand on it. "Sacrificing my arm, I managed to bind his soul to that armor. At least he lived but, at what price? I don't want to imagine how much he must be enduring, in silence. Living in a metal suit must be... awful."

"So, that's why you aimed to be a state alchemist?" rhetorically she asked, fully understanding his motives now. After a beat, she gave him a grin. "You will find a way to recover your original bodies. Good things happen to good people, after all."

That took him a little off guard. " _Good people?"_ he then smirked. " _Yeah, right."_

Luna then nodded her head, in silent support, as she stood up. She handed him his shirt and he put it on himself. Due a strange sound coming from downstairs, the two of them quickly climbed down the stairs. There, they found Nina in Al's arms, and Tucker talking with three soldiers.

One of them was awfully familiar for the witch; he was the famous Iron Blood Alchemist. Once he spotted Edward, he spoke."I don't know what Mustang told you but I, Basque Grand, am in charge of Shou Tucker's work," he declared. "The Sewing Life Alchemist's research is one of the military's top secrets. This is not a place a stranger can enter freely."

This way, the Elric brothers were forced to pack their belongings - which of course weren't too much - and leave the place. Nina tearfully asked them not to go. With smiling faces, the two promised to come play again, just like Luna did everyday.

"It's a promise, then," with a sad smile, Nina told them. They all agreed.

Little they knew, however, that they would never be able to accomplish that simple promise.

* * *

After dinner, Luna went to her room and started brewing a Strengthening Solution, since she was running out of it. She should be sleeping right now, but she didn't feel tired. It was just that, she had a strong feeling that something was terribly wrong about Mr. Tucker. It frustrated her not to find the answer.

An idea suddenly crossed her mind.

" _Let's get over with this at once,"_ she decided to take one Wit-Sharpening Potion to think clearer.

As soon as she finished the potion she was brewing, she grabbed a piece of paper writing down everything she knew about the Tucker family, mostly Mr. and Ms. Tucker. It took her a lot of time - more than it should have - but realized something; almost everything happened two years ago.

Somewhere before moving to Central, Shou discovered that his wife had magic, and died shortly after. He never told Nina that he knew about magic, though. Shortly after then, he created the infamous chimera, who wanted to die and so did it little after that. He couldn't create one like that again for some unknown reason.

Now, why no one but him had been able to create a talking chimera? Better yet, why couldn't he follow the same process again to create a new one? It sounded like he ran out of some kind of rare ingredient that he had been able to get before and now he couldn't.

Something still bothered her. " _Even if it could talk, I don't get how an animal - be it a hybrid one or not - can get the concept of death that easily. Let alone be the first thing it says. It almost sound like it was..."_ her eyes opened at their maximum size. " _... human."_

Her eyes traveled down to the piece of paper and gasped. "Wizards have magic properties in their blood and body. They can make impossible to possible. Mixing magic and alchemy must have the similar power as the legendary Philosopher's Stone, maybe a little less but still..." she mumbled to herself. "The woman knew her husband, knew how power thirsty he could get so she hide it from him and her daughter - until she found out, that's it. She made her keep the secret for that motive. Then, Tucker found out about magic and its properties... And..."

Luna was considerably pale at this point, she didn't want to imagine what happened after that, but she still knew it. Then, another thought came into her mind, making a chill run through her back.

" _Nina is a squib; she can't use magic... But she still have it on her blood, even if it's forever dormant. So does the she still have such magic properties?... Oh, no."_

Quickly, she took another piece of paper and wrote:

" _Meet me at Tucker's house as soon as possible, please._

 _Luna Lovegood."_

As fast as she was able to, she neatly folded the paper and practically ran to the desk Fluffly was standing on, sleeping. Softly she knocked at the wood, waking the bird up. He didn't look happy at her actions.

"Sorry, I can't risk my uncle and aunt to see me using the phone and discover what's going on. They wouldn't let me go," she explained, handing the piece of paper to him. "Give this to the Elric brothers. I'll have to leave the window closed, so I'm sorry but you'll have to wait until my arrival to get back inside."

The news didn't cheer the owl up, but obeyed her. He took off flying as soon as the girl opened the window, note in his peek. Meanwhile, Luna turned to her cauldron, taking a vial, and dipped it on the turquoise fluid. Right after that, she drank its contents.

" _Please, be okay, Nina,"_ she said to herself after jumping out the window - luckily she was in the ground floor, if not she was going to have some serious injuries.

It didn't take too much time to reach the Tucker's manor, and walked straight to one of the soldiers, calmly. Before he could say a word or shoot her, she pointed her wand to him. " _Silencio. Expelliarmus."_

She thought about the possibility of just use a Stunning Spell and get over with it, but decided against it. Leaving proof of magic use wasn't wise, she had to be sure to leave evidence of a break in. A simple bruise was more that enough.

Luna decided to have a little close combat, taking advantage of the potions she had drank before; the Wit-Sharpening Potion - to speed her thinking capacity up, and her reflexes by default - and the Straightening Potion, of course. The man seemed to made his mind on the same thing, given that he couldn't talk nor shoot her, and aimed a punch to her. She grabbed his arm first, twisting it, before throwing him harshly against the wall, knocking him out of cold.

" _Obviate,"_ she didn't have to worry about creating a false memory, given the fact that he could've forgotten due the impact. " _Incarcerous."_

The ropes appeared of nowhere and successfully tied him, tightly. Luna released a long sigh, placing the soldier in a comfortable position and standing up to leave.

"Hey you! Wait there!"

She turned around, noticing a couple of men arriving, and held her wand in front of her. Even if she didn't like it, things had just to be done.

* * *

"I don't like this one bit," Ed mumbled, as he made his way through the streets at the middle of night, accompanied by his little brother.

"Luna wasn't really expressive in that note, so it could be not that important," Al pointed out. "That, or there is the possibility that she is overreacting."

That didn't ease his worry, but worsened it instead. "Actually, I'd been thinking about the same thing than her for a while, but thought that I was just overreacting," he confessed. "But if we are talking about two people thinking of _exactly_ the same, I wonder how much of an overreaction it is."

"But, brother," Al argued. "What are you going to do if they take away your qualification for doing this?"

"If there's nothing here, I'll happy. If that's the case..."

They stopped dead in their tracks, as they saw the back of a girl who seemed to be dragging an unconscious man. She placed him next to his partners, who were asleep as well, before turning around. She stiffened at the sight of more people, and unconsciously got ready for a fight.

"Wait, Luna!" Al panicked a little. "It's us!"

Luna seemed to recognized him after a few seconds. "Ah, right. Hello," she waved her hand. "Come on, let's go."

She climbed the open window - which, unknown to them, she had opened with an Unlocking Charm - and motioned them to follow them. They followed her without a word.

"Why did you call us?" even if he already had an idea, Alphonse asked her.

"Bad feeling," she automatically replied. "I had to make sure that nothing happens to Nina. That and, you know, it's not safe to sneak in alone. Sorry, but I need help."

Al laughed faintly, looking back at the fallen men over his shoulder. "It doesn't look like you need any, though," he added, nervously.

"You think so?" Luna just chose to smile friendly " _Well, thank the potions for that."_

Ed kept silent the whole time, focused in the task in hand. They eventually shut up as well, while making their way through the halls. After some time, they reached an open door, revelling stairs going down. The three, without even needing to agree with each other, went downstairs to face reality.

The room they arrived was poorly illuminated by candles, which they let them see that it was filled by cages, containing non-talking chimeras on them. They were screaming and growling loudly, so much that Luna had the urge to go away. She was interrupted, before she could do anything, by a voice.

"Over here."

They were startled when they recognized Tucker's voice calling for them, coming from a farther door. Knowing that they had gotten discovered, they did as they were told and walked there.

"Come in."

The trio, after the opening the door, found themselves in a weird, and nearly spooky, room. Several transmutation circles were drawn in walls and ceiling, books and documents were scattered over the wooden table, and in the center was a man, standing still, with his back facing them.

"Look," Tucker told them.

When he stepped aside, they finally could get a glimpse of what he was creating, and got shocked. There it stood a chimera, different to those that they had seen before in the cages. It had the form of a white fluffy dog, with a huge difference; long chocolate hair fell down from its head and covered its face, only letting them see white, inexpressive eyes behind them.

Luna shook her head. " _Please, tell me that she is not..."_ she prayed again and again.

"A complete chimera that understand human words," Tucker explained, with a smile in his face. He then kneeled down next to it, pointing towards Ed. "Listen, he is Edward."

"Edward..." a deep, distorted voice came from the creature.

The state alchemist didn't pronounce a word but frowned, his gaze focused in the chimera who looked at him, its eyes somehow telling him that it acknowledged him.

"Yes, good job," Tucker congratulated his creation.

"Good... job...?" it repeated.

Al beamed, excited at the sight of a new creature. "I can't believe it!" he, innocently, exclaimed. "It's really speaking!"

The witch just watched, a part of her denied the evident truth developing in front of her... _Wanted_ to deny, more accurately. Her eyes followed Ed then, who slowly made his way towards the chimera, crouching at its side. He let the creature sniff him softly, and move his head towards the silver clock, snatching it from his belt and letting it fall into the floor. Ed's gaze lowered considerably.

"Edward..." the chimera pronounced, the boy tried to hold his tears down. "Brother... Ed..."

Luna's eyes opened considerably, as Edward stood up, fists clenching. Al asked him what was wrong, but the question remained unanswered until the blonde glared at Tucker.

"Mr. Tucker," he bit his words. "When was the first time you transmuted a chimera that understood human words?"

"I already told you," seemingly confused, the chimera-maker answered. "It was two years ago."

"And when did your wife leave?"

"Two years ago."

"Do the letters still reach your wife, even now?"

Tucker inclined his head to his right, slightly. "What are you trying to get at?" he asked.

Edward's face got darker, as his eyes seemed to start raging in anger. "Where did Nina and Alexander go?!" he shouted at him.

With a gasp, Alphonse seemed to finally get what was going on. Luna, however, didn't react. She just stared at the chimera, blankly, feeling as the world slowly started to crumble apart.

She had never felt that being right was so _wrong._

"I don't like kids like you who have a good perception," with a sigh, Tucker confessed.

The witch vaguely noticed Edward pinning the man against the wall, just didn't care about it at the moment. She just walked closer to the creature, falling into her knees in front of her.

"Sister... Luna...?" it seemed like it was trying to get her attention.

"Y-Yes?" she managed to whisper.

"Are... you... angry...?"

That was too much to take, the memories it brought just didn't cease to repeat in her mind again and again. At the sole mention of those words, Luna hugged the chimera tightly. She didn't care if it was Alexander, Nina or both. She didn't care if they weren't human. She just didn't want to let the chimera go.

"I would never be angry with you. Never," she mumbled, before narrowing his eyes to the father. " _With him, however..."_

She focused on Tucker again, who was still held by a shouting Edward without a chance of running away. Still, he wasn't fazed at his situation at all. Even more, he held a huge smile in his face. It was simply disgusting.

"Do you think you can get away with this?!" the boy growled, angrily, at him. "Something like this that toys with a human life?!"

"Human life, eh?" the man laughed, darkly. "Your arm and leg. Your little brother's body. Those are the results of toying with a human life, are they not?"

The blond's response was to hit him across the face, which caused Tucker to cough a few drops of blood, but didn't manage to erase the smile in his face. He laughed again. Edward was about to strike again, when his brother prevented it by suddenly grabbing his arm.

"Why, Mr. Tucker?" Alphonse asked. "I thought you had to pass the assessment to protect your lifestyle with Nina."

"I have no reason to create a chimera," his statement angered even more the three kids in there. "I just experimented because the possibility was there. A chimera that understand human words... I just wanted to create one."

"Don't kid with me..." Edward mumbled.

"Although you knew it was a taboo, you couldn't stop yourself from experimenting with human transmutation. You and I are the same."

"You are wrong!"

Luna grew furious, even if she wasn't the kind of person that got like that often. The words that sick alchemist pronounced were just disgusting, but they strengthened that feeling, they made the pressure in her chest, that she already felt, deeper. She couldn't bear with it anymore.

Alphonse was confused, when he heard wind rushing loudly in his ears. His head snapped and his eyes opened when he saw the candles. The fire had gotten bigger, burning stronger and eventually creating jets of flames.

As soon as it started, however, the fire went normal again. At the same time, he noticed the chimera grabbing Luna's sleeve with its teeth. The girl was surprised, but nodded at the creature with a smile, like thanking it.

" _Accidental magic is not what I need right now,"_ Luna reminded herself, unaware of the spectator.

Before Al could speak a word, he heard a hit and looked at his brother just to find out that he had punched the man once more. He was out of his mind now, hitting again repeatedly, not giving him a rest.

"Brother, he's going to die!" Al tried to stop him.

Edward aimed for another blow, but a slight force pulled from his coat before he could do so. The boy turned around just to see Alexander-Nina holding the fabric in its mouth, in silent plead. It wanted him to stop hurting its dad - if he still could be called such a thing.

Suddenly, the alchemist's expression grew softer, as he turned around and bent forward slightly to the animal. "Nina, this may hurt a little, but bear with it," he stood straight, and attempting to clap his hands. Tucker laughed at his actions.

"My chimera has been transmuted perfectly! No one can return it to normal!" he told them. "Be careful not to let the same thing that happened to your mother happen to it!"

Realization hit Edward, bringing along frustration. He let his hands drop to his sides, as the chimera tilted its head slightly, before approaching Alphonse.

"Let's play..." it said, probably unaware of the current situation.

The armored alchemist looked at it, sadly, as he tenderly patted the dog-like hybrid on the head. No long after that, they heard steps coming their way and, in no time, the Iron Blood Alchemist made his arrival along his subordinates, asking Edward for an explanation.

The younger state alchemist kept his gaze down. "He used his own daughter to..." his voice was too soft that it could be easily mistaken with the wind.

He didn't look pleased, but Basque Grand had to arrest Tucker, even if he was under his supervision. They escorted him to the truck they arrived at, and then watched as they got the chimera inside a huge cage, to take it away as well.

"We will let the military council determine what to do with the chimera and Tucker," Ed's superior said. "Do not speak of what happened here."

"What?" Luna took a step ahead, but an officer held a better grip of her. Aware that the Straightening Potion should had left by now, she didn't fight further.

"Wait! You people knew that Tucker was doing, right?!" a soldier also tried to grab Edward, but unlike Luna, he fought against it. "And now you're trying to get rid of the evidence-!"

When one of the Brigadier Gereral's transmuted gauntlets collided with Edward stomach, Alphonse had also to be hold down. The boy in red grimaced, falling into the ground out the pain.

As soon as the soldiers walked away from them, the armor kneeled down next to his brother in concern. Luna, however, ran after the truck, which was drawing away from her reach.

"Damn it..." Edward managed to say. "I'm not letting you take them!"

He clapped his hands and then slapped one of them on the floor. Luna narrowly got away from the line of attack, as alchemy sent a wave on the pavement causing the vehicle to overturn. The chimera jumped out it, visibly scared. Out of fear, it started to run away as soon as it saw the witch running its way.

The blonde girl didn't give up, as she tried to find the creature she had lost the track of. After some wrong turns and good ones, she arrived at an alley.

Luna couldn't believe her now watering eyes. Feeling her legs like jelly, she used the wall next to her for support.

"Luna!" Al shouted, as soon as he and his brother caught the glimpse of her. She didn't even acknowledge their arrival. "What's wrong?"

She pointed at something ahead her. "That," she whispered.

The brothers gasped, as they witnessing the grotesque view in front of them. Blood was splashed in all the wall, but it still kept the form of the body it used to be before exploding. It had the silhouette of some kind of dog-like creature.

It was Nina, in other words.

"It looks like she was decomposed using alchemy. But, who?" Alphonse expressed, his voice quiet and sad. "But even if we tried..."

"I'm sorry... Nina," Edward mumbled, and started crying.

Luna ignored the rain that started to fall above her head, soaking her hair wet. She just walked, like in a trance, towards the wall and stretched her hand in front of her. Softly, her fingers brushed against the bloody wall; that was all that it was left to the little girl she always considered as a friend, one of her _first_ friends on top on that, and as a sister.

Helplessly, she started crying, too.

* * *

Luna stood there, wearing her little black dress, alone. It was getting cold, but she didn't care. She just wondered when she was going to wake up; and she meant for real. Not to arrive to Hogwarts but to see Nina's innocent smile once more. To get the pleasure to realize that any of this ever happened.

She felt steps walking closer, but she didn't bother to turn around since she had already reached the point of not caring about anything else.

"So you're still here?" she recognized the voice as her uncle's.

"Yes," that was her only answer.

Hughes couldn't do anything but force a smile to her. He walked towards her, sliding an arm over her shoulders. Luna accepted the half hug, resting the side of her head on his chest. One thing she liked about him is that they didn't need to say anything to understand what the other was feeling.

"I thought it was going to be kept as a military secret," Luna said after a while. "Or so did Basque Grand say."

"Well, it might end up as a military secret," Hughes said, softly, patting her arm. "Still, not even the military can deny a proper grave to anybody."

"I see."

Breaking their embrace, she crouched and pointed at the gravestone with her wand. " _Orchideous,"_ she casted, moving a little the stick. In no time, she had conjured a bouquet of flowers.

She kept there for a moment, sighing, when she saw the man crouching down next to her. He smiled at the flowers for a beat, until he read something wrote in the gravestone. He shook his head.

"Whose daughter?" he mumbled under his breath, visibly irritated.

"Her mother's," Luna's soft voice replied. Hughes looked at her, and nodded in understatement. "You know, I think I had judged her wrongly, and it wasn't even her fault. I mean, I'm aware that she probably married the wrong guy, but she didn't abandon Nina," Luna looked at the grave next to her, built for Nina's mother just recently. "I was so wrong about her."

Hughes didn't say anything, just reacted to give the girl a warm kiss on the top of her head, and she returned his kind action with a tiny smile. He then looked down the grave, and noticed something that caught his eye.

"What's that?" he asked, curiously.

Luna looked down and realized what had called his attention. Under the bucket of flowers she had conjured, someone had placed a piece of paper. It was a drawing, probably from a child. The author had drawn the faces of a girl, a boy, an armor, a dog and finally a little kid's one. In the center, there was some kind of transmutation circle.

"A charm," she smiled, slightly. "I guess those two were here little before us."

The soldier smiled as well. "So that's it," he said, before standing up. She looked at him, expecting for him to talk. "We should go. Garcia and little Elicia must be waiting for us."

After a swift nod, Luna did so as well. She turned around to leave, when she felt something cold falling in her head. Looking up, she realized that, beautifully, tiny snowflakes started to make they way down the cloudy sky to the ground. Little time after that, the two of them found themselves stepping on a pure white blanket, freezing everything that was on contact with it.

"It's like she is saying goodbye," Hughes commented, almost surprised, but still solemn.

Luna held the palm of her hand in front of her to let one lone snowflake fall on it. She watched it for a long time, as it melted with the warmth of her flesh, until she finally closed it. She smiled, widely, giving the grave one last look.

" _In loving memory of_

 _NINA TUCKER_

 _(1907 - 1911)_

 _Loving Daughter_

 _Joyful Friend_

 _Wonderful Sister_

 _You will be always remembered and loved, forever more."_

" _Goodbye, Nina,"_ wordlessly, she left.

 **. - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - .**

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE**

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Sorry it was a long chapter, but I couldn't make it any shorter. I wanted to write all of this...

Thank you, **kwerli** for reviewing! Nina's death always gets me when I read fics or see the anime :( It was difficult to write about it. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

If you favorited this story and/or you put this on your alert list, or you just paid this fic a visit, thank you! I wish you had fun :D

See you later!


	5. The Chocolate Cake

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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 **CHAPTER FIVE**

 **The Chocolate Cake**

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Luna hugged her legs, tightly, as she let her back rest in the door of one of the toilets in the first floor girl's lavatory. It was already near nightfall, and she still hadn't gotten out. It wasn't like she was planning to do it either. Until it was absolutely necessary.

"Oh, you're here again?" Moaning Myrtle, who was passing by there, floated in front of her. "What's wrong? They called you 'Loony' again?"

Luna had spent her days in Myrtle's lavatory several times now, and surprisingly the ghost had been rather comprehensive with her. The living girl supposed that it was because they were almost identical, in the way that they both were bullied Ravenclaw female students, so she could empathize in some way.

The student shook her head.

"I have gotten over with that," she replied gazing at the floor. "It's just... something else happened."

"What?"

"I've lost somebody special for me," she confessed. "She's dead."

"And what's wrong with that?"

Luna shook her head, realizing how absurd was to talk about the loss of someone dear to an already dead person. She let out a light chuckle.

"She didn't have magic, Myrtle. She didn't come back a ghost, like you," she told her. "She is gone. _Really_ gone"

"Oh."

Moaning Myrtle hummed for a bit, before flying around the bathroom for a while. Luna stood there, expecting for her to say something.

"Then, if she isn't a ghost, she must be fine," Myrtle told her, flying close to the ceiling. "Trust me, it's way better just passing away rather than staying behind... like me. I bet she's happy wherever she is."

Luna looked up, seeing Myrtle upset expression and softly smiling to her. She felt a little bad for the ghost, actually, but at the same time was aware that she couldn't do a thing, even if she tried her best.

" _Can't do a thing, huh?"_ she grimly thought.

Before she could muster a word, something else happened. A book suddenly flew on the air, passing through Myrtle's head and hitting loudly against the wall beside her. A gasp was out of Luna's lips before she could tell what was going on.

She opened the door quickly, barely noticing a red head rushing out the room, probably wanting to avoid been seen by the ghost. Speaking of which, Myrtle went beserk, angry with the 'book trespassing her' stuff. A loud cry echoed in the lavatory, as water started to rush out the faucets, overflowing the sinks and dripping the floor wet.

"Uh..." Luna didn't like the looks of it. "I'm going after the student! I'm sure it's just a misunderstanding."

Without any further delay, the student ran away the lavatory, leaving Moaning Myrtle behind, still in tears. She felt a little bad for leaving her in such a state, but she didn't want trouble either. She, unlike the ghost, still had a long life to live - or so she pretended.

Something was bugging her, though. Was it Ginny the one she had seen in such a brief period of time? Because, she didn't seem the kind of girl who would prank Myrtle for fun - unlike her brothers, the twins, of course.

" _I'll ask her later. I'll better call it a day,"_ she thought to herself. " _I still have things to do in Central."_

However, after yesterday's events, she wasn't that eager to come back just like she used to.

* * *

Edward was currently at his apartment, lying on the top of the couch, facing the ceiling above him. His eyes blankly stared ahead, not paying attention to anything but the spotless white surface in front of him. As his ears heard steps coming his way, his gaze focused in the metal suit walking his way. Alphonse, upon the sudden attention he gathered from his older brother, shifted uncomfortably.

"Al," he asked him. "What's the matter?"

"Uh, nothing," the metal boy softly stuttered. "I just wanted to remind you that we are supposed to meet Second Lieutenant Havoc in two hours."

"Ah, right," he nodded, before focusing in the ceiling again. "Thank you."

Alphonse stood there for a little, saddened at his brother's state. Sure, he had to admit that he was a bit depressed himself, but understood that glooming about it wouldn't do any good. He had to be okay, for his brother.

He called on all his courage to speak to him.

"Brother," he said, almost in a whisper. "You need to eat something."

"I'm okay," that was Ed's reply.

"You're not!" Al argued. "You already skipped dinner last night! It's not healthy!"

For the first time in a while, Ed sat on his bed and looked at him. He forced himself to give his only family a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry about it, Al. I'm okay, I really am," he replied, softly. "I'm just not hungry, that's all."

"But-!"

Before Alphonse could say any more words to complete his statement, they heard someone knocking the door. The suit of armor glanced at the door, then returned his gaze to his brother and released a long sigh.

"This conversation is _not_ over," he reminded him, earning a glare from the blonde, and walking to get the door.

Who he meet was the girl they had befriended while staying in Central, she was smiling at him as she usually did. The metal boy realized that she was clutching some kind of basket between her pale hands.

"Oh, Luna," he greeted. "Nice to see you."

"Hello, Al. Nice to see you, too," she nodded her head. "You see, Aunt Garcia baked this cake and asked me to..." she then looked at Al and realized something. He couldn't eat, even if he wanted. "Oh, silly me... Forget it, okay? I'm really sorry! I will just go-"

"No, it's okay! Really," the metal boy quickly said, attempting to stop her from leaving. "Come in, please. Brother _really_ needs something to eat right now."

Luna didn't get that, but nodded, walking inside the apartment. As soon as she stepped into the room, golden eyes fell on her and it only took a few moments to realize who was their owner.

"Luna?" he asked.

"Hello," she greeted, lifting her basket for him to see more clearly. "This is a gift from my aunt. It's cake."

"I see..." he stared at the basket briefly, and forced a smile at the girl. "I'm really sorry she got in such a trouble doing it, but I'm not hungry-"

Edward wanted to finish his apology, but was forced to stop. Grey eyes had opened at their top size, and stared at him like twin plates. After a short, but still creepy moment, Luna calmed down and bit her lower lip to stiff a laugh. "Yeah, right," she mumbled under her breath.

The boy grew annoyed at it. "What with it?" he narrowed his eyes.

"Sorry, it's nothing," she kept laughing. "I must've been bitten by an Smiley-bee," she lied. And, even though the other two had no idea that bees could smile, knew she was. Ed frowned and Luna apologized.

Edward was not hungry? She couldn't think of anything more bizarre than that...

"... given the fact that he eats thrice his height per meal... Come to think of it, it isn't _that_ much..."

"Repeat it!" she heard Ed's angry shout.

"...'Sorry, it's no-'"

"Not that!"

Luna blinked for a second. "Ah, I said that outloud," she realized. "Was there something wrong with it?"

"Everything!"

"Ah, sorry. I didn't think it would be such a big deal for you..."

"Ah! Stop it!"

"Stop what?"

"You said it on purpose!"

"Said what?"

"You emphasized the word ' _big'_ intentionally, didn't you?!"

The girl just held a confused look in her eyes as her head titled slightly at her side. Edward was fuming right now, and Luna swore that she could almost see steam shooting out his ears, rising and rising in the air. Al laughed softly, holding his hands in front of him.

"I think you are overreacting a little too much..." Alphonse said. Edward glared, and opened his mouth. "And I _don't_ mean that. So, just drop it, okay?" the metal suit quickly added. His brother close his mouth and looked away with a frown.

The room fell into silence, which broke after a while with Al long sigh. He looked at Luna as soon as she gave him what she had brought and smiled in thanks.

"Sorry about that, Luna. You already know how Brother is..." hearing that, Ed scowled, but the other two ignored him. "Anyway, make yourself comfortable. I'll bring some tea."

"Oh, no. It's not necessary," she replied, almost instantly. "I just wanted to give you guys that. I'm leaving..."

"Luna, stay," he asked. "Please."

The young witch just had to learn how to say no to people - especially Alphonse. There was something in that boy that made her resolve weak. Secretly, she wondered if he really used to be a human boy before; he could had perfectly been a puppy. Or a Kissyhoney Bearlord; that worked too. Yes. Really, don't ask. Please. _Don't._

Anyway, the point is that Luna gave up and nodded, before sitting in a chair across the table while a pleased Al walked to the kitchen. The witch stared at Ed, who was still lying in his bed in the other corner of the room, in silence.

For a couple of minutes, the young alchemist tried to ignore her persistent gaze, but after awhile it became annoying. He drew out a breath, out of irritation, and turned around. His annoyed golden eyes locked in her blank grey ones.

"Say it," he spatted.

"... 'it'...?" she repeated, confused. Edward ignored that.

"I know you want to say something, you idiot," the Fullmetal Alchemist kept pressing. "Spit it out."

Luna got what he meant, and her good mood - or what it remained of it - died down in a second. Her curious gaze grew sad and dropped at the wooden floor, as she once again thought about what she wanted to say. After putting her thoughts in order, she spoke.

"We had have been through such an ordeal, haven't we?" for the first time since she arrived, she put what they had been feeling on words.

"Yeah," he, once again, looked away.

"There was nothing we could've done for her, you know, right?"

That was followed by a period of silence, making the witch grow even more uncomfortable. Her eyes swiftly traveled to the kitchen, wondering in her mind what was taking the younger Elric so long. She briefly considered going to help him out, but decided against it. Luna would be damned if she were to run away from one of the few friends she had.

Luna was still not sure if it was alright to call him a friend, but she still wanted to think she could.

"I could've never imagined that Tucker would do something like that to his daughter," she spoke her mind. "He seemed to be a good man. A good father."

"That's the way alchemists are," Luna was taken aback with his answer. "They think they can do anything they want. They know it's not allowed, but they don't care. Because they can do _anything,_ " he looked at his metal hand briefly. "They fail to realize that they can't play god as they please, on time," and closed it, tightly. "... and end up hurting other people because of their stupid pride. All alchemists are the same."

"What are you talking about?" she instantly replied. "Don't tell me that you are going to believe everything he said like nothing? I don't think he is the most sane person in the world to rely on. Even _I_ can tell."

"..." he frowned. "But he is right."

"He's not," she argued, and Edward didn't reply. "Come on, Ed. You aren't acting like yourself. Just listen to what you're saying. It's getting ridiculous."

Once again, no answer came from the mouth of the alchemist. Luna's eyes softened a little, as she stood up and moved over the other side of the room. She sat on the bed, right next to him, but he still didn't made eye contact with her.

"Listen, Ed. You're different, don't let anyone tell you otherwise," she softly told the boy. "Yes, I know you performed human transmutation. Yes, I know you were aware that it was not allowed and did it anyway, and that it went horribly wrong. Also, I'm aware about how alike Tucker and you are..." she started. "But, you know what? You are terribly different at the same time; it is the motive of trespassing that line."

Edward, for the first time in awhile, looked at her. He no longer held the annoyed and irritated gaze, but curiosity and sadness instead. Luna, in turn, looked straight at his eyes, and offered a sweet, friendly smile at him.

"Tucker, just to prove himself and prove others he was better, sacrificed his own daughter and dog. You guys sacrificed your own bodies in order to get your mother back to life," she told him. "You did it out of love. What is more pure than that? I can't think of anything."

The alchemist looked at her for a moment, before looking at the floor, his bangs covering his eyes. Still, a slight smile curved his lips. Luna felt good, knowing that she made him feel at least a bit better. She realized that now, it was probably better to leave him alone to let it sink in his mind.

"Okay," she stood up quickly. "I'm going to check on Al. I'm not good at sitting in one place doing nothing."

She was about to make her way to the kitchen, when the boy spoke. "Luna?" he called.

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

Luna smiled fondly. "Anytime," she answered, before making her way to Al once and for all.

The witch walked inside the room and found the younger Elric in no time. Not that it wasn't difficult to spot, though. You needed to be blind to not to see a giant, living armor standing in the middle of the room, cutting in slices a perfectly baked chocolate cake.

Said armor turned around when he heard someone coming in and chuckled when he saw the sighing girl. He sure knew how tiresome was to deal with his brother.

"And you don't have to live with him," he commented, even if she hadn't said anything. "I can't think of someone harder to live with."

"You have no idea," she laughed a little. "Ask Uncle Maes or Aunt Garcia about it; you will have the answer in less than a second."

Al shook his head, knowing that it was probably truth. It must be difficult to live with a girl who claims to see creatures no one had seen before. Thinking about it, it wasn't like he thought that she was someone bad to be with - she was actually a good girl in his opinion - but he had to admit she was a strange person; and sometimes even he couldn't tell if it was a good or bad kind of strange.

Speaking of which, he had seen something strange back then. And he _knew_ she had something to do with it. He had sworn he had seen Nina - or Alexander, he couldn't tell - trying to calm her down at that moment.

"Luna, I was wondering about something," Alphonse spoke, making the girl look his way. "Remember the day when, well, Nina died, right?"

"What kind of question is that?" Luna was confused. "Of course I do."

"You see, something really strange happened right then. I'm sure Brother didn't see it, but you did, right?" he asked, slowly, hoping that the girl wouldn't freak out. He didn't want her to think that he was out of his mind. "The fire of the candles. They grew bigger at some point before returning back to normal."

Luna unconsciously flinched; of course she remembered. She recalled being that angry because of everything that was happening at the moment, that her magic almost went out of control. If it wasn't for the chimera breaking her out of her trance, the room would've burnt.

She went pale, did Al really see that? The witch should have known better, the younger one was the most observant; the one she should have been more careful around.

"Really?" she feigned innocence. "I must've been the wind, don't you think?"

"Luna," Al would have risen an eyebrow if he had one of his own. "We were at the basement. There weren't any windows, and hardly wind."

Luna flinched again. "You're right," she laughed it off. "I wonder then..."

"... You saw it, right? I know you did," Alphonse pressed further. "Nina was calming you down."

"I didn't-"

"Luna, I know what I saw. I won't say anything if you want to, but..." he kept talking. "But, did you have anything to do with it?"

The girl right now was feeling that today should've been called 'The Awkward Silence Day', because she had already gotten plenty of it, and guessed that she was going to have even more. She thought for a second, what was she supposed to say?

" _I might tell them the truth and get over with the lies; I hate lies,"_ she said to herself. " _But, they are alchemists, science people. What would they think if I suddenly tell them that magic is real and that, above all, I'm a witch?"_

"Sorry, Al, I honestly don't know," out of fear, she chose to lie once more. "A bunch of strange things happened that day, and I can't explain most of them; because I don't understand them either. That's why, please, drop it."

Alphonse somehow knew she was lying, and that she understood pretty everything that was going on, but let go. They had already enough to deal with to stress over something like that.

Luna would trust them if it was something important.

... Right?

"Ah, the tea is ready," Alphonse said after a moment, hoping that it would ease the tension just a little. The girl was grateful about that, and mentally sighed in relief. "Can you bring the cake to the table, please?"

"Uh, yes."

She rushed over the tray with the food and brought it to the table. As she left it there, she quickly glanced over at Ed, who was watching the cake expectantly and chuckled. Wordlessly, she reached for a chair and sat. Not long after that, Al brought the tea, and handed a cup to Luna. She nodded in thanks.

"You should try one, Ed. Aunt Garcia is like a goddess when it comes to cooking, believe me," the girl couldn't help herself, she reached and grabbed a slice of cake. "You like chocolate, don't you?"

"You have no idea," Alphonse laughed. "Come here, Brother. It's not poisoned."

"I know that much, thank you," Edward replied, feeling a little pissed.

And like that, the young alchemist left his bed with a sigh and sat in a chair next to Al. He reached and grabbed a piece of cake. The two of them looked at him, expectantly, as he took a bite of it.

"... It's good," Ed mumbled, a little surprised.

"It is, right?" Luna beamed. "It's not as good as her apple pie but it's still delicious. Believe me, though, chocolate was a good option. It helps lifting the mood, even if the person encountered a Dementor and-"

"What's a Dementor?" Alphonse couldn't help but ask.

"It's a dark creature which feeds upon happiness and hope," she explained briefly. "They can eat your soul and leave you on a vegetative state. It's not pleasant, believe me."

"Sounds scary..." the metal boy commented.

"I know it does."

The three talked, and the sad atmosphere eventually dispelled, as the room was filled with voices and occasional laughs. Luna laughed once more, after some lame joke about the cake being all eaten, when she glanced at the clock. She flinched.

"I think I held you guys more than enough, you were going to meet with Second Lieutenant Havoc in half an hour," she stood up to leave. "I think I should head home."

"Will you be okay by your own?" Edward asked, sounding a little worried for some reason.

"What do you mean? Of course I will," she replied confused. "It's not the first time I go home alone. I won't get lost."

"That's not what I mean," he replied. "It's just that, don't you remember the serial killer that is wandering around the city?"

Luna thought about it for a moment, when she remembered her uncle saying something about it.

"Ah, yes, I remember. I heard there was a killer murdering _beautiful_ girls around," the girl chuckled lightly. "I'll be okay, there's no way he will come after me," she pointed at her face. "And that's my secret shield."

"Don't be like that," Alphonse replied almost instantly. "You're pretty, Luna."

"Oh," she smiled at him. "That's a nice thing for you to say."

Luna took the basket from Alphonse's hand and thanked him, before walking to the door. "Seriously, guys, I can take care of myself. Don't worry."

"If you say so," the metal boy wasn't fully convinced, but let go once more. "Be careful."

"Don't worry, I will," and with that, Luna left.

* * *

The book was opened by the blond boy as he sat on the table, tray left forgotten next to him. His bad mood has returned after talking with that Lieutenant Colonel Mustang, and he wasn't feeling hungry either - which should be normal, he'd eaten enough chocolate cake before arriving here.

"How is she?" suddenly, a photo of Hughes, his wife, child and niece was shoved in his face. "You think she looks like me?" Ed instantly recognized Hughes, as he obviously talked about his baby girl. "Oh, man. Everyone says that..."

Feeling pissed, the younger one tried to grasp it from his hands on annoyment, but failed miserably. "Please don't bother me, old man," he hissed.

"That's not very nice," the older man gave him a smug smile while placing his photograph back in his pocket. "I'm showing you the analysis of serial murderers that I'm prohibited to show others."

"You owe me two favors from the incidents at the train and with you wife."

"Oh, really?" he teased. "But I clearly remember Luna telling me that when Little Elicia was born, the only thing you did was panic and scream, running around the room," Edward flinched. "You even annoyed her at the point she had to yell to shut you up. And, man, she never yells."

The boy blushed lightly and said nothing. Hughes was amused at his actions, and laughed a little, before agreeing to tell him everything he knew.

"Anyway, we're struck here. There are no witnesses even though the crime took place inside the city," he explained. "The bodies have been sliced to death and it's hard to believe that he did it in a short amount of time."

"Maybe he killed the victims elsewhere and the brought them in," Ed kept his eyes glued to his book and moved his tray away from Hughes, who snatched a loaf of bread away. "How much time elapsed after the victim died?"

"The autopsy didn't tell us the exact time, but the military and police are having all the cars that enter the city searched..." he cut the loaf in half to eat it. Edward, still immersed on the text, took the other half from his hands and placed it back on the tray, "... by opening and looking through their trunks."

The boy in red thought about it for a moment. He realized that they should be missing some important point. "... like a car that can hide a corpse..." he mumbled.

"Or is the act of an alchemist," Hughes pointed out.

"Alchemist aren't murderers!" he shouted, angrily. Major Hughes shrugged, and chose to not say anything else.

That was when something in the window caught his eye, and dropped the conversation almost immediately. "Huh?" he asked. "Was that Al who just passed by?"

"Yeah, probably," Ed looked at the window, realizing that his brother was gone now. "Why do you ask?"

"I thought Luna was still with him in your apartment," he frowned slightly. "I talked with my wife recently, and she told me she still hadn't returned... So I just supposed..."

Edward frowned as well, trying to not to worry. Luna had left half an hour before him, so he just supposed that she had arrived safely. But now, Hughes told him that she hadn't come back home, making him grow uneasy.

He tried to dispel bad thoughts. Luna was a carefree and easy going kind of girl, so it wouldn't be that surprising that she just decided to take a walk around the city; well, actually it was. It sounded stupid. But, that was the best answer that Ed could come up with to calm himself.

It didn't work, of course.

"Excuse me," the voice of a random soldier drove him out of his thoughts. "Are you Mr. Edward Elric?"

"Uh, yes," he nodded.

"You have a guest at the Command Center's reception desk."

"A guest?" he asked out loud, before standing up from his place, leaving the food alone to be eaten for whoever wanted to - even if it was Major Hughes, he didn't really care.

His surprise was big, however, when he realized that no one was waiting for him. The soldier that had led him to the so-called guest was confused, claiming that he had told her to wait there.

" _Her?"_

Edward quickly walked downstairs after something that had called his attention. He found something lying in the ground, and when he picked it up, he realized that it was a bolt.

"This is..." he then gasped because of the idea that crossed his mind. He took his right glove, staring at his automail for a beat. Its bolts were identical to the one he was currently holding. "Winry?"

The soldier didn't get what he meant, but Ed ignored that.

" _Both Luna and Winry are missing,"_ he thought, considering the fact that all victims of the serial killer were women as well; he didn't like how it sounded. Then, he looked at the floor, noticing marks of wheels. "Was there a car here?"

"Yes, there was a refrigeration car from the food company that delivers for the military's cafeteria."

"Refrigeration car," he said to himself, so soft that the one next to him couldn't get what he had said. "It can hide bodies... Could it be...?!"

It all clicked in Edward's mind. As soon as he realized what was going on, he took off running, following the trail left by the wheels and without caring about the clueless officer that was calling after him.

* * *

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 **AUTHOR'S NOTE**

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It has been a while since I last updated, but I swear I'm still alive. School took more of my time than I expected, so I'm not sure of when I will post another chapter.

I have to admit, it didn't end as I wanted, but I think it's alright. Oh, well. I plan to add more of the Harry Potter universe in the future, but not this soon. Maybe when Luna is a bit older.

I'd like to give a shout at **kwerli, Stone-coldRose** and **lexieconextreme**! Thank you, reviews makes me really happy :) I hope you enjoyed this update.

Also, if you favorited this story and/or you put this on your alert list, or you just paid this fic a visit, thanks as well! I wish you had fun :D

See you all later!


	6. The Request

_Disclaimer: I own nothing._

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 **CHAPTER SIX**

 **The Request**

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Luna felt horrible; she felt locked. She could tell everything what was going on outside, but somehow she couldn't move. She couldn't speak. She couldn't see.

She couldn't do anything.

The young girl still could remember everything that happened before ending up like this, and couldn't help but feel absolutely stupid. She should've accepted she wasn't going to be okay walking back home on her own when a bloody serial killer was free to do as he pleased in the city; even more if the victims until date were _all_ women.

To be honest, everything was too fast to tell what really happened. Then again, she was returning from the Elric's apartment to her home when something hit her from behind. The witch had reacted somehow and tried to fight back; bad thing she hadn't taken a Strengthening Solution before. The attacker was faster, twisted her right arm, stepped over it and knocked her down in a second.

And, for Luna, being knocked down was a bit different; sometimes she cursed herself for not being able to fall unconscious like normal people do - and wondered how come she couldn't even do _that_ right!

The thing is that, because of Luna 'special condition', every time she was forced to stay unconscious while she was not even close to wake up on the other world - or so she supposed it worked - she would fall in a state in which she was physically asleep, but mentally awake. Meaning that she was forced to be aware of her surroundings without being able to do a thing about it.

Luna believed that was both scary and disgusting.

Currently, the witch knew she had been kidnapped. Her hands were chained on some kind of pillar behind her back. And when she tried to move, even if it was a little, a sharp pain ran through her arm. Because of that, she remembered that, whoever held her in a place like this, broke it when it got twisted and stepped over.

She quickly realized then that he had also stepped on her hidden wand, snapping it in two.

Could it get worse?

Internally, she changed her mind when she heard steps coming her way, and cringed. She listened carefully, as whoever was coming walked closer and waited in fear. She couldn't see whoever that was, and didn't know what he was going to do with her.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Luna recognized the voice, and honestly couldn't tell if it was a good or bad thing. Edward was here; and he was in trouble. She could tell, whoever brought her here, was trying to trap him.

But she couldn't speak. That frustrated her more than she could've imagined.

"Were you kidnapped, too?" a warm hand rested on her shoulder and started to shake her. "Luna, wake up. Please!"

Then, Luna felt able to oh-so-slowly begin to open her eyes. Weary grey orbs looked at him, and tried to focus. It wasn't easy.

She tried to speak. Her voice didn't obey her.

Unaware of what was going on her mind, Ed smiled in relief. "Relax, you're okay now," he tried to reassure her. "We'll get the other person that was kidnapped and leave this place as soon as possible."

"... trap..." her voice was so soft, that it looked like it was the wind who had just spoke.

"What?" Ed didn't get what she was trying to say that desperately.

"It's a... a trap...!"

The warning was heard, but it was late. As soon as Edward began to open his eyes on surprise, he was hit by behind with a baseball bat and slipped into unconsciousness.

Luna looked in fear at the woman in front of him, and recognized her; she was the one who worked on the food company that the military had contracted.

"Good morning, princess. I'm so sorry you had to wake up to see something like this," she said to her, as she took Edward limp body and dragged him across the floor. "You have such a bad timing, don't you?"

"Leave him alone," Luna hissed, still feeling frightened but trying to conceal it.

"Oh, aren't you a feisty one?" the serial killer smiled, and dropped the boy on the chair.

The girl held her breath, as the woman grabbed a meat cleaver and walked closer. She just watched as her depredator kneeled down next to her, keeping her creepy smile in his face.

"I like girls like you," she waved her weapon close to the younger girl's face. "You can see everything through their eyes; hope, dreams, and fire that only lightens up in situations like this," the cleaver pressed against her cheek, and Luna had to hold a yelp when a thick red line rolled down her face. "But if you press too much the blade, that strong, fiery flame will begin to extinguish little by little..." the blade slid down her face, leaving behind a thin cut on her pale skin. "... until they end up looking at you with a blank, lifeless gaze. It's like a piece of art."

The serial killer held her demonic gaze on her fearful one, and seemed amused for some reason she couldn't instantly get. Then realized that the blood wasn't the only thing rolling down her face. Salty tears were filling up her eyes and streaming down her cheeks, slowly cleaning up the trails of her own blood.

The twisted grin grew larger. "Now, that's what I'm talking about," she pronounced, before leaving the girl alone to take care of the blonde boy.

Luna could do nothing but silently crying, in defeat, as she watched their raptor take Ed's automail apart from him, leaving it in a table out of his reach. Then she stared at the floor for a beat, before shutting her eyes tightly.

She didn't pay attention to the serial killer chaining her friend in the chair. She didn't pay attention to the woman talking to another captive, who seemed to have just awaken. She didn't care if said woman had just walked out their captivity to bring some new weapons to play with.

She just felt like hope was washing away from her. Luna knew that everything was over.

"Hey, don't cry," the girl heard a soft, feminine voice speaking. "We'll be alright."

At the noise, Luna snapped out of it and turned to the source of it. She found in no time a figure in darkness; it was a girl, she was around her age if not a bit older. She had straight blonde hair and big blue eyes which reflected her strong will, despite having her hands chained above her head, keeping her stuck between the raw meat.

"What makes you think so?" Luna asked after a long time of contemplating the person next to her.

"Well... actually, it's just a feeling..." shamefully, the girl admitted, giggling a little out of embarrassment.

The witch looked a little at her, before releasing a soft smile. She started moving her feet, absentmindedly, drawing some patterns on the dirty ground. She also thought over the possibility of drawing transmutation circles - if she knew how to. Would she have been able to run away safely if she tried to learn about it?

To be honest, she had considered the possibility before; but no. She thought that magic would be more enough.

Then again, she was stupid.

"I'm useless..."

"Why are you saying such a thing?"

Luna wondered if thinking out loud had became an habit of hers; she should get rid of it as soon as possible. But now, it was late. She had already said that, and now she had to explain.

"I can't do anything right. I dragged myself into trouble, I failed to tell Ed to run away on time. And all I can do is being scared," she confessed. "I wish I could be brave; I have already tried to be. But my resolve was shattered into pieces as soon as that woman glared at me for a couple of seconds."

A bitter laugh escaped from her mouth as the other girl looked at her with a sad expression. "And now here I am, crying like an idiot and being comforted by a complete stranger, who still can laugh freely despite being through as much as I am."

As expected, the unknown girl didn't know what to reply for a second. "If it makes you feel better, I don't think you were brought here easier than me... Anyway, I'm not that brave either. I'm terrified as well, but I like to think that we can get out of here; it makes things easier," she commented.

There was another pause, until Luna chuckled lightly. "You're right. Thank you," she replied, feeling a bit better after talking with someone. "I'm Luna. Sorry for not telling so before."

"Ah, so you're Luna! I think Ed mentioned you in a letter before," the girl smiled. "He didn't say much about you - just your name, actually - but now that I get to know you I see you're much better than how he portrayed you. Ah, by the way I'm Winry."

"Winry? Oh, Ed and Al told me a lot about you!" she smiled as well. "Well, more like Al, actually. Because, well... You know him better than I do, I suppose."

"I guess so."

They laughed a little, and Luna started wondering; was that girl as insane as her, to be laughing like nothing while held captive by a serial killer? She guessed so. But, then again, there was nothing to gain if she just worried over her life to death.

And Winry seemed to be a nice girl to be with.

"I'm glad" Winry said after they talked for awhile, earning a confused glance from the witch. "You're a good girl, Luna."

"You think so? I hardly did anything."

"You are helping me to calm down. That's kind of you."

"As far as I knew _you_ were calming _me_ down."

"We're both helping each other. You could've just ignored me that time, even if you didn't realize you were helping me at the moment," Winry commented.

Luna thought over it, and nodded her head. For the eleventh time in the day, she glanced briefly at the blonde boy in the chair.

"You got Ed to tell you what happened the night they got like that, didn't you? That proves how much they trust you. And, believe me, it's really difficult to get him to talk," she went on. "I saw how worried over him you are right now, even if you're in the same position."

She looked back at Winry, eyes full open. That may be right...

"You care for them a lot, don't you?" she finalized. "I'm glad they have a friend like you."

"I don't think we're 'friends' you know..." Luna mumbled, "I don't think they do."

Winry looked upset. " _Why is she that insecure?"_ then brightened up. "Will you be my friend, then?"

Luna was surprised, she looked at her in amazement, before blushing a little. Her gaze lowered towards the floor and nodded. Winry smiled at her.

They kept in silence for a minute, until they heard steps coming; they knew the woman was finally returning. Winry flinched and shut her eyes tightly, in fear, and Luna was tempted to do the same, until she made up her mind; she wanted to be strong, didn't she?

"Winry," she mumbled, earning the blonde attention. "We're going to live. I know we will."

The girl didn't get that, but nodded anyway. The witch, meanwhile, lowered her head as she heard her raptor getting even closer. Moved her left hand as well as she could and pressed it over the lock.

She wasn't skilled on wandless magic on the sightless.

" _... Alohomora..."_ the words were spoken, but no one but the caster could hear it. " _.. Alohomora..."_

But it wouldn't hurt if she just tried, right?

* * *

She wasn't so sure of how much time it had passed, but the witch had an idea; it was a lifetime - at least for her. The raptor was sharpening her meat cleaver, and Luna surprisingly was grateful. You might ask why at this moment. You see, Luna wasn't out of her mind - or at least not _that_ out of her mind - but was taking advantage the loud noise in the room; they couldn't hear a thing, and therefore, they couldn't hear the girl's soft incantations.

Luna flinched in surprise, and grinned in her mind, as she felt a soft click. She didn't need to be a genius to realize that she was free. Tempted to jump out of her place, scanned the place and realized it wasn't the time to do so; she would be found out in less than a second. And even if she could make it, that would mean that she would need to leave Edward and Winry behind. That was a big no-no.

Just a little more. She just needed the right time.

Edward's loud complains, fighting against his bindings, woke her out of her trance. She looked at the boy, whose wide eyes stared at the kidnapper in shock and anger.

"Good morning, little boy," she spoke, inspecting her just sharpened cleaver. Ed wanted to move, only to realize that his metal arm was missing. The kidnapper waved his automail in front of her face. "I heard that you can transmute objects without a transmutation circle, so I took precautions."

What happened next, took Luna out of guard. The woman placed a hand over her brown hair and pulled it down, showing that it was just a wig. The serial killer revealed himself as a man, still keeping the same sick look in his face.

"I am this store's owner, Barry," he introduced himself. "I'll show you something nice as a reward for coming this far," he pointed at Luna briefly. "You've already seen this little one, right? Well, let's see the next one..."

He moved over the shadows and brought Winry to the light - who had her mouth bounded because a previous problem of her not shutting up and not looking afraid.

"Winry!" Edward called after her.

He put a hand over her shoulder. The girl looked terrified now. "Now that I have two beautiful ladies, I wonder who will I start with?" Barry asked out loud, before kneeling down next to the witch, playing with a strand of her hair. "I'm going to break them apart artiscally now, one by one. So watch carefully, Mr. State Alchemist."

Luna tensed, looking at Barry straight on the eye, but sweating like hell. She was ready; if he were going to attack either them or herself, she would jump into action. She didn't have an idea of what she was going to do, but it was worth a try.

"Stop!" Ed shouted. "Why are you doing that?"

"Why?" he went over Winry again, who tried to fight back. "Maybe because it's fun?"

Luna grew even more horrified, as they learned that all started with a typical fight of married couples, in which Barry ended up killing his own wife. Then, he fell in love with the beauty of killing, so he started doing it again, and again.

"A person can't kill another for such a dumb reason!" Edward argued.

"They can," he walked closer to the boy, who instantly closed his eyes in fear, and stopped a few inches from him. "If they go to war, people can kill other people even more easily. Why do you think it is?"

"I-I don't know."

Winry let out a muffled cry as they watched Barry stab Ed on the shoulder, as blood began to drip out the new wound. Luna was so shocked she couldn't move; he did it so fast, without any brief moment of hesitation.

Barry leaned closer to the boy and whispered something, which made him shed tears of fear; Luna decided then it was almost time. She jumped into action, as the chain tying Edward on the chair sparkled in blue, and got transmuted in some kind of spear.

Grabbing a cleaver that she had found out before in the table, she threw the serial killer out the way before she could get her friend, which was difficult when you had only one arm available, and the other was broken. Ed took the opportunity and got a hold of the spear in order to defend himself.

"Why you!" Barry yelled at them, before they ran at different directions. Luna cursed under her tongue, when she realized that he was after her.

She ran, and ducked just in time to avoid a blow coming her way. Not paying attention at the piece of meat, that was cut in half in her place, falling to the ground with a thud, Luna ran further on darkness. Somehow, she landed a single hit on his hand, making it bleed.

Taking advantage of the man looking at his own blood in amazement, she found hideout on the middle of the dark. She rested her back against the wall, trying to get her breath back.

Soon, she realized that tears were coming back at her eyes. Without ever wanting to, memories of her family and friends were brought back in her mind. " _No, no,_ " she said to herself _. "It's not the time for that..."_

" _The happy memories we hold, no matter what circumstance you are, will never be a curse..."_ then she remembered. " _... but a bless. They make you stronger."_

That were her professor's words. She had heard them for the first time at the age of seven, but never fully understood them; until now. Were they meant for moments like that?

Closing her eyes, Luna breathed deeper, as she let herself been washed away for a certain memory; Elicia's birth. Undoubtedly, it was the happiest memory she had ever have. There she was laughing with those who loved as parents, Alphonse, Edward, even her late friend Nina, and her newborn cousin, Elicia. Who she would love as a sister. Who was brought to life by her own hands.

Luna was snapped from her happy thoughts when she found herself blinking at something unusual. A tiny, silvery hare was staring at her. They looked at each other for a few seconds until the animal started jumping around her, before disappearing from her sight, leaving some kind of silver trail behind it.

" _What was that?"_ she wondered.

Then, she heard it; Barry was coming. Clutching her cleaver in hand, started to run away from him, avoiding a fatal blow again but tripping with the table. Quickly, she grabbed what had fell down from it and realized that it was the metal arm.

"Ed!" she called, throwing it at him, who was currently trying to get Winry out as well as he could with a single arm.

Edward caught it safely, and started running, making Barry go after him. "Take care of Winry!" he called.

Nodding, Luna ran over Winry. "Okay," she whispered once she reached her. "Don't move."

Using her weapon, she started to hit the chains repeatedly - there wasn't a lock, so she couldn't use an Unlocking Charm. After a long time, she managed to break the girl free.

"Let's help Ed!" the witch called and the other girl nodded.

However, as soon as Luna took a step ahead, she was forced to stop. For some reason, her heart hurt, burned, sent shocks of pain through her body each time it beated. The air got moist, and harder to suck in her lungs.

Luna had hardly time to spoke up until she fell on the floor, knocking over a dead animal that was hanging behind her, hand clutched on her chest, unable to move, _again_. Winry hurried over her, panicking each second it passed.

"Oh, god," she breathed. "Luna! Are you okay?"

Meanwhile, Edward was busy trying to get away from the killer to notice what was happening on the other side of the room. He had managed to place his automail back in place, but was still trying to stay alive. He was saved by luck, as a piece of meat pushed the killer out the way before he could land a fatal blow on him.

Edward transmuted a blade on his automail, which he used to knock the cleaver out of Barry's grasp. He brought it to himself, and tried to stab the kidnapper with it, when a hand resting on his shoulder stopped him from doing so.

"Don't!" the voice shouted. He turned around quickly, instinctively trying to kill whatever was behind of him out of fear, but he couldn't. The material it was made of was too hard for doing so; it was metal.

Alphonse rubbed his unscratched chest.

"I won't die from that," he told him.

The military had arrived at the place, quickly directing to the serial killer, who raised his arms in defeat with a smile on his face. Edward finally let his tears fall, as he came around of what was really happening.

"A-Al..." he whispered.

"Brother, does it hurt?" Al sadly asked.

"I thought he was going to kill me..." he clenched his fists. "I really thought I was going to die... I was scared..."

The metal suit could do nothing but place his strong hand over his shoulder, in silent comfort.

Luna was hearing every bit of it, and couldn't help but feel depressed. She wanted it to stop; she was really tired. But she was not able to. She couldn't sleep. She couldn't wake up either. She was stuck in darkness. Hearing cries and steps coming and going around her, slowly driving her crazy.

"Luna!" but then, she heard it. His voice. She missed it so much. "Are you alright?"

The witch felt as an arm was placed behind her back, holding her closer to its owner's body. She smelled his scent. She was safe now.

She realized she must have flinched or something, because whoever was holding her suddenly placed his hand behind her head, placing it on his chest, hugging her tightly.

"Shh, it's okay," he whispered. "It's alright now."

"... Dad?..." she managed to say, even if it was too soft. Luna guessed that the person had heard it, because he stopped moving for a spit of second, before chuckling lightly.

"Yes, I'm right here," he whispered. "And I'll always be."

Luna somehow felt calmer after hearing those caring words. Her thoughts started to slowly slip away from her mind without even realizing, as the voice soothed her stressed mind and the warmth lured her to sleep. She was too tired, anyway.

The next thing she knew is that she was standing on the Great Hall of Hogwarts, on the middle of the night. It took her awhile to realize that she probably had been sleepwalking again - sometimes, it happened when she was in those 'dead alive' kind of state. After remembering what had happened before, she smiled to herself, and hurried back to her dorm before Flinch found her.

* * *

Silvery eyes fluttered opened and looked around, the world focusing and unfocusing fastly. Their owner groaned, as a wave of pain hit the back of her head. Once she was a little better, she tried to get what was going on.

She was currently lying in the back some kind of car of the military, with a little blanket covering her body. Vaguely noticing that her head wasn't lying in something hard, but in a rather comfy place, she turned to see that there was a neatly folded jacket, which she was using as a pillow.

Just by rotating by her side, she quickly noticed who it belonged to. A few meters ahead her was her uncle, wearing a plain white shirt, talking with some people. In no time, she recognized them as Mustang, Hawkeye and a crying Winry - who also had a blanket wrapped around her shoulders.

She stared blankly at them for a moment, when all of sudden Mustang seemed to notice that she was awake. He looked at her for a second, before saying to Hughes something she couldn't hear. Said man turned around, smiled, and rushed at her.

"Hello," he softly said, grinning, as he placed a hand over her head. "How are you feeling?"

"Good," she sat up, still keeping the covers over her shoulders. "If you ignore the fact that I was almost killed by a sick wo-, sorry, man."

"You are okay," he decided. "I think some doctors are going to check you up. Before that, do you want to take one of those... How do you call them?"

"Potions?" she was surprised. "You still keep those I make you have with you?"

"Of course I do," he took out of his pocket a handful of little vials. "Which one?"

"The red one, yes, that one," she took it from her uncle's hand and, after checking that no one was watching, drank it in a single gulp. She looked at her arm, that was beginning to heal. "That will do. It's a good substitute of a Healing Charm... I think I have broken my wand, you knew."

"I know."

Luna didn't need to ask, since Hughes showed her something he had on his hands. He was holding a stick, well, half of one. She glanced inside her sleeve, and realized that she was only hiding the other half.

"Garcia told me you weren't in home yet, you know. I was a bit worried when I realized that you weren't in Ed and Al's apartment either. I went searching for you. Then, I found half of you wand lying on the road," the man confessed. "We began searching further, and Al helped us, claiming that his brother had disappeared, too."

"Really?" Luna couldn't help but feel a little guilty. "How did you found us, then?"

"Something guided me to," the girl looked at him, in confusion. "I saw a silver rabbit. It looked at me for a minute and started jumping away. I followed it until it eventually disappeared, and then I found myself in front of the truck we had been searching for all this time."

The young witch gazed at the ground, sitting quietly. The Major sure noticed that and sat beside her.

"Was it you?" he asked.

"... I was scared. I was scared of dying," she started speaking. "Then, I remembered Little Elicia's birth, and I realized how bad I wanted to return to you guys... And when I opened my eyes, there was that hare standing in front of me."

"Hare?"

"Hare. It's not a rabbit."

"Oh, I see..." he smiled, before standing up. He ruffled his niece's hair. "It was beautiful. I just wanted you to know that."

She returned the smile, and Hughes walked away. She gazed up to the distance for a beat, unconsciously rubbing her chest with the tip of her fingers. The memory of the pain never faded, and made her cringe. She had never heard that magic could affect her this bad; could it be because of the lack of wand? She doubted so.

" _Then again, I don't think I can depend on magic every single time,"_ she glanced briefly at the Elric brothers, who were sitting meters ahead her. " _How can I protect others, if I can't take care of myself? I almost lost Ed and Winry, like I lost Nina."_

Luna made up her mind, and walked towards them. When she looked at their faces, of exhaustion, she started to regret her decision. However, she couldn't back down now; they had already acknowledged her.

"Luna?" Al asked, kindly. "Are you okay now?"

"Uh, yeah," she answered, nodding her head, before turning to Edward. "Is Ed okay?"

"Yes, I'm okay now," he smiled at her. "Don't worry about it."

"Ah, nice."

They looked at her, puzzled, as the witch stood in front of them, holding her hands together as if she was trying to control her nerves. Luna didn't know what to say or how to say - whatever she wanted to tell them.

"Is there something wrong?" the metal suit asked after a while.

"Actually, yes," she nodded and took a deep breath. "I was wondering... if you guys could, uh..." her gaze shifted to the ground. "... teach me the basics of alchemy."

The brothers jumped in surprise, not expecting such a question. The girl, on the other hand, glanced at them briefly, before returning her gaze to the ground.

"Why?" that was Ed's curious question.

"Because I want to know more..." she whispered. "... I want to know more, so I can be stronger. I want to be able to protect myself... and to protect others. I don't want to lose anyone else."

They stayed on silence for awhile, the brothers looked at each other thinking of what to answer the girl. Al looked sad all of sudden. "But I don't think we will stay around longer..." he expressed.

"If it's not much of a problem, can I go with you? I'll help you guys as well as I can," Luna pressed further. "I promise I won't be a burden. If I ever turn into one, I'll leave. So, please."

Luna closed her eyes, resigning herself. Waiting for them to deny her request, she realized that she couldn't blame them; it was too much to ask for. However, the reply wasn't the one that she exactly expected to have.

"It's alright," her eyes opened widely, and looked at Alphonse with unspoken surprise. "Of course you can come with us."

"Are you sure?" Luna breathed.

"It's called the Law of Equivalent Exchange," Ed explained, grinning. "You help us searching for the Stone, we help you teaching you alchemy. Isn't it fair for you?"

"I don't think it's fair for you, guys... But-"

She was interrupted by a sound of flapping wings. She turned around, noticing that a familiar snow white owl was flying her way, before resting in her shoulder. With curiosity, she snatched the little letter he had tied in his claw.

" _Hi, Luna!_

 _Professor told me what happened, I'm glad you're okay now. He told me your wand broke, that's too bad._

 _He also made me write this to you, to ask you to come over as soon as you can. He thinks he has a wand just for you. If it chooses you, that's it._

 _Well, see you around._

 _Nicolas."_

She shook her head and let the owl fly away, deciding to answer that later. It was kind of obvious that would happen anyway, nothing ever slipped away from that man. Placing the letter on her pocket, she noticed the strange looks she was receiving from the boys.

"It's an old friend, he asked me to come to Rush Valley for something important," she explained. "I wonder what it is."

"Wha-?" Edward blinked. "What the hell is the deal with you guys and owls?"

Luna giggled and ignored the question. "It's okay if I join you guys a little later?" she asked.

"Ah, no problem at all," Al replied. "We'll keep in touch."

She smiled once more, turning around to tell her uncle her plans for now own. He sure would accept, she was convinced. It wasn't like she wasn't used to trouble; she had already a lot of magical experiences with different creatures in her whole life, especially when she lived in Rush Valley. Travelling with two alchemist wouldn't be so different, right?

But before she took a single step, she stopped on her tracks. She had forgotten something. The Elrics looked at her in expectation, as she suddenly turned around with a wide grin in her face.

"Thank you, guys. I can't thank you enough."

They smiled in return, and watched as she turned around once again and ran to her uncle.

* * *

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 **AUTHOR'S NOTE**

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Okay, this is where this episode ends. I hope it isn't confusing for you guys, and sorry if that was the case. Things will be slowly explained in further chapters (I hope it ends up alright, as well). You'll just wait and see for yourselves.

I would like to thank lexieconextreme, Stone-coldRose, kwerli and kawaiicarrot! Reviews like these really enlighten my day :D Also, thanks to whoever favorited this story and/or put this on their alert list... And whoever is just passing by this fic and decided to give it a try.

I wish you all had you fun here, and enjoyed this update as well as I enjoyed writting it!

See you later.


	7. Playing Robin Hood

_Disclaimer: I own nothing_

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 **CHAPTER SEVEN**

 **Playing Robin Hood**

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Everything was quiet in the Headmaster's office. All of the things were in place, the portraits on the walls along the big one behind the desk desk, of Amrose Swott, the last headmaster before this one. As normal, the office was hosting several magical instruments, and among them was the famous Sorting Hat, who was actually hoping that Fawkes, the phoenix, wouldn't burst into flames while he was that dangerously close.

He could've asked Dumbledore, but he wasn't currently on Hogwarts. Minerva - the current Headmistress - wasn't around either. He mentally growled.

That was until he heard someone coming; it certainly wasn't someone he expected to come. He was completely taken away when the platinum blonde girl made her way inside, as if it was perfectly common for her to come in.

"Ms. Lovegood?" he caught the attention of the witch. She turned around and blankly looked at him. "How did you come in?"

"Through that circular, moving staircase, of course," she simply replied.

"I know that," if the hat had eyes, he would be rolling them right now. "I meant, how did you know the password?"

"Ah, I guessed," Luna moved over the room, taking a look of all those amazing portraits. "Dumbledore once told me that his favorite sweet was sherbet lemon. He is the kind of person who would put something like that as a password."

The hat didn't know if he should be proud of placing her in Ravenclaw; if her method of guessing was a really intelligent one or out of luck. Well, it didn't matter. It had worked after all.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, as she patted Fawkes' warm head.

"I want to ask Professor Dumbledore something," she replied.

"Dumbledore is not around."

"Then, I'll wait here until he comes."

"I don't think it will that soon," he continued. "He was removed, remember? McGonagall is the current Headmistress, and she won't be here for a long time either."

"I'm not in a hurry," she smiled. "I'll wait for any of them to come."

Sighing, the old Sorting Hat decided that there wasn't much that he could do keep her away, and gave up. "Then, can I ask you a favor while you wait?" he asked.

"What?"

"Move me; wherever you want, but far away from that bird," Fawkes turned his head, as if he was profoundly offended. "I don't want to be caught in the fire."

She blinked twice. "Uh, sure," she nodded, before placing him over the desk.

Before doing that, she lied on a comfy sofa.

She didn't care if it was Professor McGonagall, she had to ask somebody about the so-called Chamber of Secrets. Today, Professor Flitwick had agreed to tell them what the 'myth' - she now doubted it was just a 'myth' - of it, after some student, who had followed the lead of the second year Hermione Granger, asked him. However, what still bothered Luna was the beast that was said to live inside. It terrified her.

Faintly realizing it was late already, her eyelids started to feel heavy and - before she noticed what was going on - she found herself in front of the huge door she saw every night.

And the smiling, white girl was there, looking as creepy as always. Not that Luna minded, anyway. She was more than used to see her; it had been that way since she had born, and it makes it even more depressing that she didn't have any idea of what that person was supposed to be.

Luna greeted slightly, and was about to open the doors, when something crossed her mind. The person in white was like a gatekeeper of two different worlds, right? She, maybe, knew a lot more than she did... It didn't hurt to ask, right?

"Do you know what lies inside the Chamber of Secrets?" she asked her.

"Of course I know."

Luna gasped. The woman grinned. And the silence arose.

"Would you tell me?" the witch narrowed her eyes, already guessing what would she get as an answer.

"What will you give me in exchange?"

"I should've known you were that greedy," she sighed.

"It's not greed. It's the-"

Oh, right. Luna remembered now that she maybe _had_ said something of that nature before.

"Law of Equivalent Exchange, I got it," Luna shook her head. "Forget it, I don't even know why I did bring that up..."

And the white person held her hands up while shaking her head, shrugging. With a long sigh, the witch finally pushed the doors.

She woke up with a start and looked around, wondering why she wasn't in her room. It took her a few minutes to get that she wasn't in Central anymore; she had travelled to Rush Valley, her hometown.

Donning a black floral dress along long red leggings, she slipped in some white shoes before taking off, running downstairs.

There, she met a boy around her age. He had the biggest eyes she had ever seen before, colored in a hazel shade. His hair was short, and somewhere between dark blonde and light brown - she had never been able to tell. He smiled softly at her, in greeting.

"Good morning, Nick," she went to the kitchen, poured herself a cup of milk and returned, sitting on the table with him. "Have you seen the Professor?"

"I'm right behind you," Luna jumped on her spot, turning around in a flash. There it was, the old man with bright blue eyes and long white beard.

"Professor Dumbledore!"

Right, right. I know. You're probably asking how is that possible, and to be honest, not even Luna knew. It had been a mystery for her since she was a kid.

In one world, he was the famous wizard of all times, who was given the title of the Headmaster of Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

In the other, he was the kind old man that had taken her as an apprentice when she was a little girl, who had recently learnt she had magic.

Luna had stopped questioning herself, because the only thing she managed to do was to blow her mind again and again.

" _Wait... This guy knows everything, doesn't he? Then..."_ she suddenly asked herself. "Oh, by the way," Luna asked the professor, once he sat on the table to eat his breakfast. "Do you know anything about the Chamber of Secrets?"

"Excuse me?" he was genuinely confused.

"... Nevermind," she shook her head with a smile.

The room fell in silence, as both males looked at her in confusion of such a question while Luna quietly drank her milk.

Even if she was just staring at the wooden table, her mind was still running. It had just occurred to her. She had always supposed that they were two whole different worlds, with no connection between them or whatsoever.

But, could there be any? Dumbledore presence in both of them was something that made her old theory fail. Still, they could be just two different people, given that he didn't know anything about the Chamber. Or, it could be the eighty-two year gap between them, and the old man wasn't supposed to know anything until later in life.

She briefly considered that she was living in the past, but she didn't recall hearing about such a country called 'Amestris' on the other side, so it wouldn't make sense.

With a sigh, Luna gave up and decided to steer the conversation into happier waters.

"Now, just tell me, what is the wand you wanted to show me?"

"Ah, right," Albus nodded at Nicolas, who instantly stood up and ran upstairs.

After a brief moment, the boy returned with a black box and handed it to her. Dumbledore nodded at her, letting the girl know that it was okay for her to open it. After doing so, she found herself staring at an unusually long wand, which bore strange cravings, resembling some kind of clusters.

"And here I thought mine was long enough," Nicolas expressed.

"Hmm..." Luna kept rotating the wand to inspect it further. "Looks good enough for me."

"It belonged to your mother," Dumbledore commented, and she blinked at him. "Okay, then. Try it."

Luna brought the wand up, and then down. She was surprised to see some kind of steam shooting off the tip, which took the shape of a little flower before scattering in the air. The old professor smiled.

"It likes you, I guess," Nicolas commented.

"Looks like it," she smiled as well.

"I must tell you to be careful; it can sometimes be difficult to wield," Dumbledore warned. "The wand can be stronger than you can imagine. Keep it always close and never let your eyes out of it. Am I clear?"

Luna stared at her wand for a little, before putting it away, inside her sleeve. "I understand, Professor," she told him. "Thank you."

"With such an awesome wand, I bet you won't be kidnapped again, right?" that was Nicolas' innocent question.

"... I guess so..." Luna didn't know what to answer. She stared up ahead with a blank gaze, until she realized something. "Come to think about it, I haven't told you _that._ "

"Tell us what?"

Then, Luna started explaining them what had happened that night, focalizing in the silver hare she had seen at the time, which seemed to have guided her uncle to their rescue. When she finished the story, she looked up to see their faces. Dumbledore was surprised by some reason.

The young boy was confused. "A hare?" he mumbled, turning to the elder man. "What does that mean?"

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised around you anymore," the wizard let out a chuckle. "It seems you've conjured a spirit guardian out of instinct."

"Spirit guardian?" Luna echoed.

"A Patronus, in other words," Dumbledore explained. "The Patronus Charm is one of the most difficult spells to perform. It's the projection of all of a person's positive feelings, and protects them from the foulest creatures in the whole."

"Even Dementors?"

" _Especially_ Dementors."

Luna was too surprised to speak. Nicolas, on the other hand, wasn't. He let out a little chuckle.

"Typical Luna," he commented. "From all spells, she had to perform one of the most difficult in the whole world. What a show off..."

"I don't even know how I did it!"

"Oh, but you will," they turned at their professor. "I shall teach both of you. You need to know how to protect yourselves from that kind of creatures and I am positive that you are old enough to learn. So, let's move on."

* * *

Luna realized in no time that she had conjured the Patronus out of luck; it was so much harder than it previously looked like. Dumbledore had explained that she probably did it so excellently as a defense reaction to the danger she was facing, and she had thought that it made perfect sense.

" _Expecto Patronum!"_

The girl then smiled slightly after seeing that she had at least managed to conjure a shapeless silver cloud of mist which, as pathetic as it would sound, was best she had managed to do in two hours straight.

Well, at least she had accomplished more than Nicolas. He hadn't managed to conjure a single dust. It was slowly frustrating him.

"Don't worry," Dumbledore told him, after he complained for the third time. "Take it easy, and it will work."

"It's easier said than done..."

Luna smiled encouragingly at him before she heard something. Fluffly was flying towards her, holding a note in his claws. As he perched in her shoulder, she took it from him.

"It must be Ed and Al," she told them.

Luna mentally chuckled when she remembered when she lent them Fluffly, since they had promised to keep in touch - she could always borrow Nicolas' owl or Fawkes, this one as a _last_ resort given the fact that they would obviously freak out if they saw a phoenix flying their way with a letter. The picture of the owl happily nuzzling in the metal boy and the small alchemist staring at the bird warily - she could tell it still didn't sink in his mind that there existed 'messenger pigeons', as he liked to call them.

Nicolas just stared at her happy face, blankly.

"Al says they took a train," she told them, after reading it. "They are on their way to Youswell because of a mission."

"To the East?" Albus seemed to be surprised. "Is not what I'd call, a happy place to go, precisely."

"Yeah. It seems like Ed has been ordered to inspect the coal mine," she read, before placing the letter back in her pocket. "I think I should better go catch them before Ed's patience runs out and stops telling me where they are."

"So, you are already leaving?" the boy asked, bitterness in his voice.

Luna turned around, looked him at the eyes and, after a beat, smiled sadly while nodding. A warm hand softly rested in his shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

"I'll return soon, Nick," she told him, before hugging him tightly. "I'll pay you guys a visit."

"..." he closed his eyes. "... You will?"

"Of course I will," they broke apart. Luna looked at him with a questioning look. "You're like a friend to me!"

"And here I thought we were already friends," Nicolas released a chuckle, and Luna laughed. "Take care."

The girl rushed upstairs, placed her belongings back to her pink shoulder bag and got outside. She looked around for a bit, earning confused looks from the two males.

"What are you doing?"

"I don't have any tickets to go to Youswell," she explained. "But I think this way will be faster... Oh! There she is! Hey, Lucy!"

The two watched as something landed in front of her. The girl's hand was now petting a big winged horse-like creature. She was all black, her wings resembled those of a bat and they could see the bones of her whole body. Even if the creature looked eerie and sinister, they weren't afraid. The main reason was that they already knew Lucy; she always looked like big puppy when Luna wasn't around, so she looked particularly evil.

And she was in that state right now.

"Oh, Lucy," Luna beamed. "You've grown so much."

"She had missed you so much," Nicolas commented.

The witch patted her friend a little more, until she decided it was time to go. The Thestral let her climb in her back and let out a strange shriek, wordless agreeing to take her wherever she wanted.

"Take care, Luna," Dumbledore told her. "Have fun."

Luna nodded and her Lucy where to go. After that, they took off flying.

* * *

"I dare you to repeat that!"

The kid flew back when the soldier landed a hit across his face. He grunted from the floor, blood dripping from his face, before standing up with difficulty to face the elder man.

"You, bastards, claim to help to control the city but you're slowly destroying it!" he screamed. "I'm not afraid of repeating it again and again!"

"You brat!"

The little boy closed his eyes, expecting the blow that never came. Instead, he felt himself pushed by an external force, keeping him off any harm. When he opened his eyes, he saw a girl older than he was still over him.

"Are you okay?" she smiled at him. He just nodded.

The soldier, on the other hand, shrieked for some reason. He was pale, looking at something the kid something couldn't see. He was about to dismiss it as madness, when the young girl turned at that something, and seemed to be petting an invisible pet.

"I'll be okay, Lucy," she smiled. "You can go... Yes, I'll miss you too... Bye."

The boy felt a breeze, as the girl raised her head to the sky. Right before doing that, she turned to the man, staring at him with a faraway gaze.

"Uh, sir?" she asked. "I'll take the kid somewhere else. I just wanted to let you know."

"I don't know who or what you are, but this kid had just wronged the Military State," the man spoke, his confidence back. "Step aside."

"Sorry," she let out a grin. "You've wronged him as well. I'm afraid I can't let you do it any worse, sir. You two even now, right?"

The man ignored and raised a fist at the girl, who chose to raise her arm above her head before bringing it down. " _Stupify!"_

And as soon she said that, the soldier was down. The girl sighed, taking some kind of wand or whatsoever from her sleeve and walked towards him. She crouched, pointed the wand towards him and mumbled some words.

"W-What are you doing?" the kid asked, feeling quite unsure.

"Replacing his memories. I can't get people knowing what it really happened here," the boy flinched as she stood up and started walking towards him. "Sorry, but I have to do the same with you. Don't be scared, it's painless and it will be over before you know what's going on..."

"Wait a minute!" he backed away. "I won't say anything!"

"You won't?"

"I swear I won't!"

"Okay, then."

The boy blinked, when he looked back at the witch. She had brought her wand down and was smiling warmly at him.

"A-Are you sure?"

"You were the one who swore that wasn't going to say anything," she looked confused for a moment, before shaking it off. "It doesn't matter, I guess. You have plenty of scratches on you, don't you? I'll help you."

The kid was surprised at her response, and could do nothing but nod. His eyes didn't leave her as she mumbled words that made his wounds close, one by one. Not that he could be blamed, he had never thought that magic could exist, but now that he knew, he believed it was pretty cool.

But, strangely, one of the facts that surprised him the most was the girl's attitude. He had told her once that he wouldn't say a word about her magic, and she believed it instantly. If that wasn't being gullible, he didn't know what it was. Was it healthy?

"... name?" the voice brought him out of his thoughts.

"What?" he asked.

"What's your name?" she asked. "Mine is Luna."

"Oh. I'm Khayal," he replied with a smile.

"Ah, nice name," Luna beamed before standing up. "Alright, you're done."

Khayal was genuinely surprised. He felt better than new. Magic was amazing, he realized.

"Oh, by the way," Luna brought his attention. "Do you know of a place I can stay in? You see, I'm not from around here."

"I do! My father runs an inn around here," he told her, and the girl suddenly brightened up. "Let me tell you it isn't cheap; it's quite expensive. Do you have money with you?"

"Not too much," the girl saddened visibly. "I guess I will need to camp outside... somewhere," she groaned.

Khayal placed a hand under his chain, in deep thought. "I think I might be able to get you a good discount," he commented. "You've helped me enough, after all."

* * *

The girl sat on a wooden table, doing her best to ignore the drunk men shouting behind her to write half a decent letter to her family on Central, when the door opened, which meant that there was a new client, probably brought by Khayal - the kid was terrifyingly good in these kind of things...

She ignored them, until she heard a familiar voice.

"How much is it?"

Luna blinked, her pen slipping from her grasp in surprise; it was unmistakably Alphonse's. She instantly looked up and found out she was right. There he was, standing next to his brother, in front of the receptionist, Khayal's mother.

"It's expensive," Halling, the innkeeper, grinned creepily.

"Don't worry," Edward replied. "I have a lot of money, even if I don't look like it-"

"Two hundred thousand."

"Wha-?!"

Luna giggled, making her way to the sulking alchemists. They were counting their money again and again, and cursing their lack of it while she stared blankly behind them. That was until Edward turned around and spotted her. He jumped in his spot.

"Luna?!" he screamed. "What are you doing here?!"

"It's nice you're glad to see me," she shook her head.

"That was not what I meant!" he frowned. "I mean... Did you really pay two hundred thousand?!"

"Of course not, I don't have that much," she stared blankly. "I got a discount."

"Discount?" Al asked.

"Yes," she grinned. "I made them a favor and they gave me a discount to show their gratitude."

Something seemed to hit the mind of the Fullmetal Alchemist, because he grinned widely. Alphonse and Luna just looked at him, in confusion, as he stood up from his place.

The next thing they knew was that he was using his alchemy to repair different broken objects from both the customers and owners of the inn.

The couple that ran the place were impressed; the wife was happy because she had her most precious vase back in one piece and the husband thought it was amazing, remembering that he had tried to study it once but didn't have the talent.

And the son was curious.

"Why did you come to Youswell?" he asked, innocently. "There's nothing interesting to see here."

"A job," Ed simply replied. "I just came to inspect the mine."

For some reason, everyone stiffened up. Luna and Al looked at each other briefly, aware that couldn't possibly be good,

"Are you from the military?" Halling had become quiet all of sudden.

"I'm a State Alchemist, after all."

And like that, Edward was literally kicked out the building, landing on his face. His briefcase was thrown at him after that, hitting the top of his head miserably. He looked terribly angry and, for once, Luna couldn't really blame him. " _Ouch..."_ she visibly winced.

"We have neither food nor place to stay for a dog of the military," the innkeeper snapped before turning to the other two, Luna and Alphonse, who visibly flinched. "Are you two soldiers as well?!"

"No really..." the girl replied with all honesty.

"But you are related, aren't you?"

Alphonse was about to talk, when his big brother interrupted him before he could even start.

"These guys have nothing to do with me!" the other two were startled at his plain lie. "I just met them on the train."

"Then fine. Go get eaten by the dogs," that was the innkeeper response, before he closed the door in the face of the State Alchemist.

After that incident, Alphonse had no other choice that play along and pretend to have nothing to do, even if he was terribly worried for Edward. Given that it was cheaper if he booked a shared room, he agreed to do so with Luna. Not that he minded, anyway. He didn't need to sleep or anything.

Luna on the other hand, ate her dinner while they learned why they were that resentful against the military. The reason was the ridiculously high taxes they were forced to pay in comparison of the measly salary they earned. Putting it in that way, she couldn't really blame them.

But, still, it was still true that poor Edward had nothing to do with it to begin with.

"You don't have to spend all night staring at the food, you know," Luna whispered to Al, once she made sure that no one was around. "Why don't you give it to your brother instead?"

"I was thinking of doing so," he admitted. "But I have no idea how to."

"Place it inside your armor," she smiled. "Here, I'll help you."

After it was done, Alphonse walked outside, pretending that he needed some fresh air. Meanwhile, Luna finished her dinner. After putting everything back to place, she went to her room and waited for the armor suit to return, who had told her that he would begin to teach her the best he could, even if Ed wasn't around.

Somehow she felt excited.

* * *

Luna opened her eyes, remembering that she had accidentally fallen asleep while waiting for Alphonse. She had awoken in Hogwarts, still no signs of either McGonagall or Dumbledore of appearing any time soon. Because of that, and the fact that it was Sunday - no classes for today - she just had chosen to grab something to eat and take another nap.

"So you're awake," a voice startled her. She spinned around, and was relieved when she realized it was just Al.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" she asked, sitting up.

"You looked tired, so I just let you sleep," he told her. "Besides I don't think I would've been able even if I tried. There was a whole fight outside and you didn't react. You are a heavy sleeper, aren't you?"

At first, she blushed in embarrassment, but when she let the words sank, her eyes opened in confusion. "Fight?" she asked.

"The military tried to collect the money, and Mr. Halling and the others opposed against it. Khaya made one of them angry, and an alchemist tried to attack him," he narrated for her. "Brother saved him, and was welcomed by the Lieutenant to come to his mansion. I think he is there now."

"..." Luna blinked. "Wow," that was her reply.

Alphonse just laughed at her.

"Okay. Shall we start?"

"Of course," she beamed.

Alphonse told her to sit next to him, on the table, and she obeyed. For a beat, she just stared at the many books scattered around the place and wondered for a second if she was really going to be able to understand anything on them. She also noticed a glass of water standing on the center of it and realized that it wasn't for Al to drink - he couldn't do it. So, why?

After a long while, the metal boy spoke.

"I know you might already know that, but Alchemy is the art of altering matter by using natural energy," he explained. "And that's what we call a _transmutation._ "

Luna nodded, happy to be able to understand at least the two first phrases of the lesson. But then, she got confused. Al was lifted the glass of water in front of her face.

"Now, take as an example that we want to transmute this," he continued. "What must we do first?"

"... Draw a transmutation circle?..." she was unsure.

"Wrong. We must do something first."

Luna's eyes squinted in deep thought, as she looked at the item in his hands.

"Know what it's made of?"

"Yes. The first step is _comprehension_ ; understand the inherent structure of the material to be transmuted," he nodded. "So, what's this made of?"

"Hydrogen and oxygen."

"Only that? There's more. Much more."

"..." she blinked. "It doesn't look like carbonated water to me."

"It basically has, apart of hydrogen and oxygen, sand, soda and lime."

"Wha-? Really?"

She looked closer, failing to see something like that on the water. She realized that she might have been looking wrong, because Al was laughing a little, but still kindly. She stared at the glass of water for a moment.

Then it hit her.

"You mean the glass itself counts too?"

"When you practise Alchemy, you must understand everything," he told her, with a serious look. "No matter how obvious it can seem."

Luna nodded once more, and Al continued with his lesson. It went on, and on...

Al couldn't help but feel a little surprised, Luna was doing pretty good; even more than he had given her the credit for. He had not idea how long they had been studying, but she was improving quickly.

"I did it!" she beamed.

And, yes, she did. He felt surprised, he had managed to repair the glass he had dropped on purpose for her training. It looked almost good as new.

But something was still bothering him, and she noticed. When he felt her gaze on her, he laughed softly before speaking.

"I wonder if Brother is going to be okay by his own," he expressed.

"Even if he doesn't look like it, he actually can take care of himself, so don't worry," she smiled at him, trying to reassure him. "Besides, I bet he is in a better position that us right now. The military here looks to have quite a life of luxury."

"That's right, but..."

He never finished his statement, because they heard something. A loud blow coming from outside, which made them run out their rooms. Luna tried to open the door, but it was too strong for her. Alphonse did it instead, just to find a strong airmass, rushing around the cafeteria.

"Hey," they heard Khayal's sleepy voice. "What's going on?"

Luna rushed to the kid. "We need to get out of here," she spoke and then froze in her spot. She had heard a loud crack above her head.

"Watch out!" Al screamed.

She did the first that crossed her mind, which was to bring him close to his chest to protect him. Internally, she was aware that it would be in vain, but...

Fortunately for them, Alphonse jumped in time and protected them both as the roof collapsed on the top of them with his strong, metal body. Only when the noise stopped and Al let them go, she gathered the courage enough to open her eyes.

The scene was horrible; all the building was completely destroyed, lost. The child, as soon as he looked at it, cried. And kept crying, even if he was being embraced by both of his worried parents.

"Thanks for saving me," Luna got up, not taking her gaze apart of the crying people.

"It's nothing..." Al didn't either.

* * *

The sun rose high in the sky, and Edward was already there. He had gotten there as fast as possible after hearing those noises, just to stare at the tragedy itself. Their inn was destroyed, and they all were crying about it.

And Lieutenant Yoki was behind all of this.

Edward kept an indifferent expression, even if Khayal was asking him to transmute gold to save them all. The alchemist quietly declined.

"Why not?!" the kid kept pressing on. "It's not like you are going to lose anything."

"The Law of Equivalent Exchange is the basis of Alchemy," he spoke. "I have no duty or obligation to help this city."

"Are you asking for a bribe, too?!" he grabbed the _slightly_ taller alchemist by the neck of his coat. "You call yourself an alchemist?!"

Feeling a little pissed, but keeping his cool, he retired the boy's hand off him.

"It's illegal," Luna felt the urge to fill in for him. "If he gets caught, his qualification as a State Alchemist will be taken away and he will be sent to prison. It's not that easy."

"Then, do something to not be caught!" he kept insisting Ed.

"Even if I do create the gold, it will be taken away as a tax anyway," he said. The kid seemed to have given up after that. "If you are in that much trouble, why don't you leave this city and find another job?"

"Kid," Hailing placed a strong arm over the shoulders of his wife. "You might not understand, but this is our house, and coffin."

He looked at the man for a moment, like the words were resonating in his mind, before lowering his head and smirking. After then, he walked away. Alphonse and Luna looked at each other, before following him.

"What are you thinking to do?" Luna asked.

"Luna, you might not know, but Al and I burned our house before leaving," she looked sad at his words, but somehow understood. It might've been their way to show determination. A little too drastic in her own opinion, but let it pass. "But it was in _our_ own. We have no place to go back to, and I think it's fine. But those who have a place to go back to need to treasure it!"

They looked at the young alchemist, as he ran ahead. He jumped into some kind of wagon full of coal. "Is anyone looking?" he asked.

"Uh," Alphonse looked over his shoulder. "They seem to have all returned to their warehouse."

"Good," he took a tiny sack from his pocket. "Guys, keep what you see here a secret."

He threw the contents of it to the pile of coal, gold coins in other words. He then clapped his hands and placed them on the mixture. Blue sparks beautifully shone as usual, transmuting the coins and coal in a large pile of gold bullions.

"You're going to pay him?" Al asked.

"More like tricking him," he grinned evilly. "It will change back in a couple of hours. That's enough, I guess."

Luna laughed. "Serves him right," she then turned to the destroyed inn. "And what are we going to do with that?"

"Ah, right. I've forgotten," he realized, running towards it.

The witch was surprised and amazed at the same time. It only took a clap, and the building was erected once again; it looked better than new. Everything was in place and-

Wait, not everything.

"Brother," Alphonse noticed that too. "The windows are missing."

"Oh, right. I must've forgotten," he shrugged. "We don't have time for that. I guess that we should just leave it to Luna, then."

"Huh?" Luna's head snapped at his direction. "How?"

"What're you talking about? Al must've taught you how to mend glass together, didn't he?" he explained. "The books must be inside now. You can take a look at them, if you need to, but I don't think they will be necessary."

"Yeah, but I'm not sure..."

"Eh? Didn't you say that you wanted to learn Alchemy?" he raised an eyebrow. "You can't learn if you don't practise enough."

That was when Edward smirked.

"If you want us to teach you, you'll need to work hard," he took a small chalk stick from his pocket. "You should know by now, but I'm not as soft as Al. I'm hell strict."

"I can see that," sighing, she accepted it. "I'll do it."

"Alright. Al and me are going to Lieutenant Yoki's place while you are at it," he declared, already starting to walk away. "Good luck."

"Same to you, guys."

Alphonse only had time to smile at her, before having to run after his brother to catch up. Resigned, Luna walked inside the newly built inn and looked around. Her head dropped suddenly, when she looked at the floors.

There were shattered glass _everywhere._

"I can't help it, right?" she asked herself, going for a broomstick. After successfully divide the shards between the windows to be made, she sighed. She had no idea of how to draw the transmutation circle when there was a wall in the middle.

She could draw it over the side, but as long as she knew, the material for the transmutation had to be in the center. Luna briefly considered using a Mending Charm, but decided against it. That wasn't the right way to learn for real, right?

That was when an idea hit her; it was so basic that she felt a little stupid for not thinking about it before.

She drew a giant circle around the place where the window was supposed to be, and given the fact she had no more space to draw it, she continued it on the floor. She placed the shards of glass afterwards, in that little space.

" _Okay, here we go,"_ she took a deep breath, as she placed both of her hands on the transmutation circle. After a few blue sparks, she smiled, admiring a pretty, mended window right in front of her.

Then, she went to do the same with the rest of them. That would sure take her long, she realized...

* * *

Halling and the others were pissed at Edward, who had just walked inside the warehouse with his brother, grinning, beaming. They got even more angry, when he mentioned that he was the new manager of the coal mine. He even showed them the certificate, so they could believe what he was saying.

"But I have to go back to Central City soon," he waved the paper around. "This certificate will just be extra weight. What should I do with it?"

"Are you trying to sell it to us?!" they got even angrier.

"It's going to be expensive. If you want to gain something, you must present something of the same value," he smirked. Then, he started examining the certificate. "It uses an expensive parchment, and has gold gilding! The box also uses pieces of jade and has a high-class design implemented naturally... This is a work of art... Oh, and the key is pure silver!" he went on and on. "I guess that brings it to an estimate of two hundred thousand!"

The stiffness in the air decreased. The confusion, instead, increased. " _Only that?"_ was the general thought.

"Now that I remember, your inn costs two hundred thousand for one night, right?" he grinned. "How about we call it even if you let me stay the night?"

The father smirked at it, finally understanding his intention. The son, on the other hand, looked a little upset.

"But our in is already..." he mumbled.

"Oh?" he pretended to be confused, as he looked outside the building. "Then, what's that?"

They all instantly walked out the building, and looked at the newly constructed inn. The door then opened, and Luna walked out, grinning.

"New inn, with newly added windows," she spoke. "Anything else?"

The others didn't reply. Just stared in amazement at the building. Meanwhile, Ed walked closer to the innkeeper and handed him the contract.

"This will be enough for the inn fee, right?" he asked, smiling.

"Yeah, of course," that was the only the man could say as he got the paper in his hands.

"Then, equivalent trade, that's it!"

That was when the Fullmetal Alchemist heard the sound of wheels fastly skidding through the pavement. "Master Edward!" his grin suddenly turned evil, as he spinned around to face the military body getting out the car. "What's the meaning of this?! The gold bars you gave me all turned into stone!"

"Gold bars?" he played innocent. "What are you talking about?"

The man, presumably Lieutenant Yoki, grew impatient.

"Please don't play silly!" he argued. "We traded gold bars for the certificate!"

"Oh? I thought I received the certificate for free," he took another signed paper from his pocket. "I have your written pledge saying so."

"This is fraud!"

Luna placed her hand over her mouth to muffle a laugh. " _That's why I sometimes like this boy,"_ she thought to herself.

"Fraud? That's rude. This is a legal transaction."

"The transaction is void!" he yelled. "Lyra!"

Things got a little more serious after that, because Yoki had just called his personal assistant, an alchemist who controlled wind via her necklace. 'Little' because it wasn't a big deal, really, because Ed quickly managed to get the best of the fight, only losing his right glove - and therefore revealing his metal hand - for the price of getting the necklace cut by the transmuted blade of his automail.

"Take the-!" Yoki yelled at his men.

But they had already been taken by the people of the city ages before then. Because of that, he had no more option to give up and succumb against the beating he was going to have.

And, to be honest, he deserved it.

Now, the soldiers long gone, the people of Youswell started cheering. The inn had a big party that night, and the three kids - mostly Edward - were the center of it. They laughed, declined alcohol - and they told them they were too young several times, those goody-goody bastards - and had a lot of fun.

That was until they heard a loud crash. Luna facepalmed, after noticing it was one of the windows she had repaired.

"I'll need to fix it," she sighed.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it later," Alphonse offered. "And I will check the rest, just in case."

Luna lowered her head, in shame.

"Don't get down, you did it perfect for being the first time dealing with something that big," Edward grinned. "You pass."

"Oh, thanks," she smiled.

And with that, the party continued.

* * *

"So the Dog of the Military with sides with people, huh?" Edward grinned to himself, as the three traveled back to Central. "It doesn't sound that bad."

"... True..."

"But, Brother, they still are calling you a dog..." Alphonse said.

"... True..."

"But if a friendly dog is better than the rusty one... right?"

"... True..."

The brothers looked at the girl at the same time. "Luna?" Ed asked.

"Hm?"

"Are you okay?"

For the first time in a long while, Luna looked up from her book for the first time. "Perfect," she replied. "Why do you ask?"

"You're reading."

"I always do."

"But in silence," he added. "You're always noisy. Even when you read."

"Oh, sorry."

"That's not my point!"

The metal suit, who was sitting next to her, was curious. He wanted to refrain himself from asking, but he couldn't hold much longer.

"What's a Basilisk?" he asked her.

"Ah," she glanced at the picture of the book before smiling at Al. "It's one of the most deadly creatures and resembles a big serpent," her eyebrows lifted for a second, after hearing her own words. "Not only because of its potent venom..." her smile disappeared all of sudden. "... but also for his murderous stare," she looked back at the drawing in the book, her eyes wide opened. "No one lives after looking at it in the eye..."

Then it occurred to her; it made sense. The victims, all of them, were petrified but not killed. But, could it be that they just didn't look at the creature directly?

Mrs. Norris was found in a flooded section of the castle.

Colin Creevey had his loved camera with him at that moment.

And even Hermione Granger, the most recent victim. It was rumoured that she was found with a mirror clutched in her hand.

Could it be...?

"...na?" Ed's voice drove her out of her thoughts. "Luna? Are you sure you're okay?"

"You've become pale all of sudden," Alphonse completed for her.

"Ah, yes. I'm good," she lied, with a huge grin plastered in her face.

"Is something wrong with that Basilisk or something?" he asked further.

"Of course not! It's a fantasy book, remember?"

The brothers looked at each other, but chose to not say anything else. It was strange. Luna had never once say that a certain creature didn't exist, even more, she always strongly argued that existed among everyone.

And now that she was denying that creature's existence, why did they feel that off?

* * *

 **. - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - .**

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE**

 **. - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - .**

Okay, it's been awhile! Here is my chapter, is not much but I guess it's okay.

Let's go straight to reviewers:

 **kwerli** **:** I'm glad you enjoyed last chapter, because I honestly didn't know if it was likeable enough. About what you said, I'm planning about writting about that; both learning magic and Ed denying it multiple times. Hoping you liked this update, thank you a lot for reviewing!

 **Seta88:** Hi, there! About the first things you mentioned and claimed to not know why I did them, it's simply because I wanted to. About Maes' wife's name, it's my bad. First, I watched a subbed version of the anime where I got that spelling from, then I wanted to changed it, but my corrector messed up with that, sorry if it bothers you, but I'm still going to stick with that because I'd already writen seven chapters like that. Lastly, about the spelling, grammar mistakes in this fic, I'm sadly not surprised. English is not my native language to begin with, and yeah, I know it could not be a reasonable excuse, but the real thing is that I never pay enough attention so I constantly mess up. I'm aware of everything, and I'm trying to fix it. Thanks for the advice, though.

Okay, guys, see you later!


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